Give MSG a Chance

By Ike Spry

We’ve all experienced the four basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. But, what if I told you that there was another taste, one responsible for the meaty and savory flavor that deepens and intensifies our dishes. Umami, Japanese for “essence of deliciousness,” is the fifth flavor compound. 

Glutamic acid is a synthesizable flavor compound in proteins, responsible for the distinct taste of parmesan cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, and many other foods. Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda discovered this fifth taste and created a glutamic-acid-derived flavor compound. It was called Mono-sodium Glutamate, or MSG. Nowadays, we usually hear of this food additive in a negative connotation. It is common to see Chinese restaurants stating they don’t use it, or snacks stating they avoid it. In the 1960s, a letter written to the New England Journal of Medicine bogusly stated that MSG causes adverse effects and illness. The article claimed that MSG can cause headaches, chest palpitations and nausea. It is worth mentioning that some people can have an allergy to this food additive, but the condition is extremely rare. In the article the supposed adverse effects were called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome,” as fifty years ago the food enhancer was rarely found in snack products and more commonly used as a seasoning in Asian cooking. In the early 1900s, when Italian food became more prominent in the United States, people created a negative connotation between garlic and Italians. This connotation lived on for a long time. Today, garlic is widely used in cooking, and I’d love to see the same happen for MSG. Nowadays, MSG isn’t used as much in Chinese cooking due to the public’s misbegotten fear of MSG. It does appear in several snack foods, though; Frito-Lay has been using MSG as a flavor enhancer for years now.* If you consider yourself allergic to MSG, I would steer clear of several Frito-Lay products like Doritos and Cheetos.

The war against MSG has been happening for over 50 years now. I’ll admit that at first I was cautious of MSG, so I went to the store and bought some. I tried raw MSG, and it tasted exactly like Doritos. Crazy, right? I didn’t get a headache from MSG, just like I don’t get headaches from eating Doritos. It’s simply a common food additive, used more than you think. All I want is for you to try it as well; tasting it by itself is a true epiphany as it tastes like so many Frito-Lay snacks. So, before you rip on this near completely safe food additive, try it. (As long as you have no allergies.)

*Frito-Lay disclaimer regarding MSG: “Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is commonly used in many foods as a flavor enhancer. Some people report sensitivity to Monosodium Glutamate and prefer to avoid foods containing the ingredient. If we add MSG to our products, it will be listed in the ingredient statement as Monosodium Glutamate.”