A Msg About MSG

Cheap ‘n’ cheerful Asian food. Kinda like attempting a cartwheel when you’re intoxicated. Great idea at the time, not so great the next day. What’s the deal? Why do you always feel off after chowing chow mein? It’s a little something called MSG, found at a take-away near you…

Suffering at the hands of the MSG monster means you’ve probably experienced symptoms like headaches, heartburn, vomiting, cramps, the runs and skin rash. Despite widespread beliefs, MSG ‘allergies’ are in fact intolerances. Meaning the digestive system has a tough time figuring out how to break down the beast.

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is an artificial flavour enhancer added to foods, originating from the amino acid glutamic acid. Amino acids are the puzzle pieces to protein- found in our bodies and food and therefore, glutamate is too.

Glutamate stars in many natural foods already, from meat, fish and poultry to milk, vegetables and cheese. And since it’s an effective flavour enhancer, it’s added as MSG to ingredients including sauces, stocks, pastes and salad dressings.

But why is MSG specifically synonymous with Asian cuisine? Because it’s often present in soups, sauces like soy and seasoning sprinkled over Asian food while it’s cooked. No wonder the lettuce in your san choi bau is too tasty to be true.

It’s a mystery whether it was the Japanese or Chinese who first realised that a broth containing a type of seaweed boosted a food’s natural flavour. But it is known that in 1908 Professor Ikeda from the University of Tokyo separated glutamate from broth created with dried Konbu kelp. He created and patented monosodium glutamate and the rest is MSG history.

Like plenty of products today MSG is manufactured through fermentation. This is where natural ingredients such as starch from cereals or tapioca and molasses from sugar cane are fermented under controlled conditions. Soy sauce, vinegar, beer and yoghurt are made this way too.

‘Umami’, which has received a sauce bottle of attention lately, also plays a part. It’s this fifth, savoury taste, besides salty, sour, sweet and bitter, that features in foods like shellfish and mushrooms. Apparently eating fare jazzed up with MSG excites the umami tastebuds and enhances the food’s savoury flavour.

Currently, restaurants and cafes in New South Wales aren’t required to disclose if MSG makes an appearance in dishes. Sneaky sauce system me thinks…

Basically, the best way to dodge MSG symptoms is to avoid eating it where possible.

So now that we’ve given you the 411 on MSG don’t bother sending an SOS after your sweet and sour pork fest. Maybe just an SMS to your BFF OMG’ing about your aching belly.

By Jenna Chaitowitz

Image: Flickr