Does anyone know the approximate year Mono sodium Glutamate (MSG) was introduced into foods?!
Does anyone know the approximate year Mono sodium Glutamate (MSG) was introduced into foods?
I'm just wondering how long I and my family have been exposed to this toxic ingredient. I thought it was only in Chinese foods and some grocery foods, now I'm aware many restaurants use it.
Did it go all the way back to the 40's, 50's or prior?
15 hours ago
Ok, thanks.
How do you monitor (msg ingredients)in eating out?
15 hours ago
Ok, thanks.
How do you monitor (msg ingredients)in eating out?
Answers:
Although glutamic acid had been isolated in 1866 by the German chemist Karl Ritthausen, it was not until 1908 that its flavor-enhancing potential was noticed by Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo, Japan. Prior to that time, the Japanese had used seaweed as a favorite flavor enhancer, without understanding that glutamic acid was its flavor-enhancing component. It was patented in 1909 by Ajinomoto Corporation. In its pure form, it appears as a white powder; when dissolved in water, it rapidly dissociates into free sodium and glutamate ions
From 1910 until 1956, the process underlying production of glutamic acid and "monosodium glutamate" in Japan was one of extraction, a slow and costly method. Elsewhere, crude gluten or other starting materials were hydrolyzed by heating with hydrochloric acid.
In 1956, the Japanese succeeded in producing glutamic acid by means of fermentation; and after considerable research to identify suitable strains of microorganisms for starting the requisite cultures, large-scale production of glutamic acid and "monosodium glutamate" through fermentation began.
Monosodium glutamate, was first used in the United States in any quantity in the late 1940s. According to Dr. George Schwartz, author of In Bad Taste: The MSG Syndrome, although considerable effort had been spent to introduce MSG to the USA, little had been accomplished prior to World War II. However, sometime during the war, the use of MSG in Japanese soldiers' rations was noticed. In 1948, a symposium on MSG, presided over by the Chief Quartermaster of the Armed Forces, was held in Chicago for members of the food industry.
By the 1960s, Accent, the leading brand of the flavor enhancer called "monosodium glutamate," had become a household word. Simultaneously, other hydrolyzed protein products such as autolyzed yeast, sodium caseinate, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein gained in popularity. Every hydrolyzed protein product, regardless of the name given to it on a label, contains MSG.
Cheers :-)