A misunderstood condiment, do you still have it at home?

In the past, MSG was almost a "flavor enhancer" in every household, but from some point on, it suddenly became a "villain" in everyone's mouth. Some people say that eating MSG will cause headaches, nausea, abdominal pain, hair loss and other "MSG symptoms", and that MSG will cause cancer after heating... So, are these statements about MSG true? Does MSG cause cancer? How to eat MSG more healthily? How to choose good MSG?

What is the difference between MSG and chicken essence?

People always compare MSG with chicken essence. GB2720-2015 "National Food Safety Standard MSG" stipulates that MSG is a white crystalline or powdery seasoning with a special fresh flavor, which is made from carbohydrates through microbial fermentation, extraction, neutralization, crystallization, separation and drying. The standard also stipulates that the content of monosodium glutamate in any type of MSG should be above 80%-99%.

So far, only one industry standard has been issued for chicken essence. From this, we know that chicken essence is actually a kind of compound seasoning made from MSG, with added salt, chicken powder or concentrated extract, disodium 5'-ribonucleotides and other flavor enhancers. The content of monosodium glutamate in chicken essence has not exceeded 35%. Therefore, the purity of chicken essence is much lower than that of MSG, and its composition is more complex. Strictly speaking, it should be called chicken essence seasoning.

So, what is this monosodium glutamate? It is actually an organic compound, which is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. After dissolving in water, it will dissociate into sodium ions and glutamate ions. The fresh flavor we taste mainly comes from glutamate ions.

In the early 20th century, inspired by the fresh flavor of kelp, Japanese scientists extracted glutamic acid to obtain "Ajinomoto", thus producing chemical seasonings for the market, which achieved a leap in human culinary history. In the 1920s, Chinese chemist Wu Yunchu invented the technology of producing glutamic acid by hydrolysis, and named it "MSG", and founded the first MSG factory in China. Although many natural foods, such as mushrooms, kelp, tomatoes, beans, meat and seafood, contain abundant glutamic acid, MSG has conquered the food industry and catering industry with its good taste and low price.

Will eating MSG really cause illness or poisoning?

However, the decades-long use process has brought great challenges to MSG. Some people say that eating MSG will cause headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and other "MSG symptoms", and that MSG will cause cancer or even poisoning, inducing urticaria...

In 1995, the academic community called these symptoms related to MSG, such as facial numbness, headache, weakness, eye twitching, nausea, palpitation, etc., "MSG syndrome". In recent more than ten years of research, the scientific community has not found a definite answer, but the scientists' reference suggestion is that there is no problem if the daily intake does not exceed 3 grams, and only a very small number of people are sensitive to MSG.

Let's look at it from another angle: an adult absorbs about 13 grams of glutamic acid from food protein every day, while about 0.55 grams from MSG. From this point of view, MSG, as a food additive made from grain fermentation, should not be too unsafe. On the other hand, some people on the Internet say that the pyroglutamic acid sodium produced after heating MSG will cause cancer or even have neurotoxicity. However, interestingly, there is no such statement in scientific literature, but there is evidence that taking pyroglutamic acid sodium can improve memory and brain function. In fact, as a key component of energy metabolism and part of antioxidants, it can be found in meat, dairy products and other foods.

Here, I would also like to remind you that the pyroglutamic acid sodium formed after heating MSG no longer has the function of a fresh agent, so we should try to add MSG when the temperature is lower before serving.

The statement that "eating MSG will cause poisoning" is even more absurd.

So far, countless studies on the toxicity of MSG have been conducted, but no clear toxic side effects have been found. Although MSG has low nutritional value, it is not only non-toxic, but also detoxifying.

The glutamic acid in MSG can combine with ammonia in the blood to form non-toxic glutamine, which can be used clinically to treat patients with hepatic coma. Because MSG can be quickly and completely digested and absorbed by the human body and participate in the normal metabolism of the human body, it will not accumulate.

On the other hand, glutamic acid generated in the human body from MSG is also one of the amino acids that constitute human body protein. The human body weight contains 17% protein, and glutamic acid accounts for 20% of the amino acids that make up protein. It has important physiological regulatory functions in the human body, especially in supplementing the brain and protecting the liver.

How to use and choose MSG scientifically?

It seems that MSG has been misunderstood for many years. Nevertheless, the use of this fresh agent should still be scientific.

The use of MSG should first be combined with salt. The fresh flavor of monosodium glutamate can only be presented in the presence of salt, and it has a certain inhibitory effect on sour and bitter tastes. It is determined that a 0.8%~1% concentration of salt solution is the most suitable salty taste for people. Therefore, we should adjust the amount of MSG according to the amount of salt and other seasonings.

Secondly, the acidity and alkalinity of dishes also affect the fresh effect. Experiments have shown that MSG has the best fresh effect in neutral or weakly acidic environments, such as making meat, eggs, and mushroom dishes; while in making acidic and alkaline foods, MSG will undergo chemical changes to produce disodium glutamate with unpleasant odor, so it is not suitable to add MSG to dishes such as sugar, vinegar juice or tomato juice.

Finally, let's talk about how to choose good MSG. Recognizing the "SC" mark plus 14 Arabic numerals, choosing regular channels and brands are commonplace. Qualified MSG particles are slender and translucent white or light yellow, which means higher purity and less prone to caking at high temperatures, with good fluidity. If the particles are square or dark in color, they may contain other ingredients.