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Showing posts from September 17, 2008

MSG or Umami? Do I have a Choice?

MSG served as my friend SherX's, topic on her latest post . And I thought I would add my two cents worth to it. As described in a wikipedia entry , MSG or monosodium glutamate is a "sodium salt of the non-essential amino acid glutamic acid. It is used as a food additive and is commonly marketed as a flavor enhancer". " It is a non-essential amino acid, which means that the body produces what is needed and we don’t need to make it up in our diet. The brain uses glutamic acid as a neurotransmitter". Read more of this from here . How safe is MSG really? It seems there are those who say it is okey. Just eat safe levels. But here's a worrisome article I found, and which touches on MSG. It says, "Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is not just used on Chinese food but used by most food processors to enhance the products they produce. MSG can be concealed in foods as natural flavors or as spices. Companies like it because it suppresses off-flavors, bitterness,