Monosodium glutamate (MSG) imparts a familiar and highly desirable flavour to foods. For this reason, foods with MSG are very common.
Monosodium glutamate improves the palatability and acceptability of foods with low fat and salt content. For this reason, it can be useful to reduce sodium intake without reducing sensory quality. However, in addition to this positive effect, many problems related to its consumption have been described. Information on the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) is also controversial, with different countries and international food organizations proposing different values.
Foods with Monosodium Glutamate
Fast Foods and Restaurant Foods
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is commonly found in foods cooked in chain restaurants and fast food restaurants. Different restaurants have different standards, but it is common for chefs to use MSG liberally in everything from noodles to stir-fry dishes and soups. This often results in excellent dishes that don’t require too much careful preparation.
Highly Processed Foods
Canned soups, packaged lunch meats, certain bacon products, and slices of pepperoni and cured ham all contain MSG. Foods that rely heavily on chemical preservatives to stay fresh sometimes include MSG. This is because it preserves the flavor of these products no matter how long they’ve been in the store. In addition to increasing flavor, it’s added to meat products to reduce salt levels and maintain flavor.
Frozen Products
Convenience products, such as frozen foods, contain MSG. Most foods lose many nutrients during the freezing and heating process, which can affect their flavor. Any food designed to provide quick, affordable gratification likely contains MSG. Breakfasts, frozen dinners, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and frozen pizzas are examples of frozen foods that contain MSG.
Fermented or aged foods
MSG is commonly added to Asian-style cooking ingredients, such as soy sauce and fermented bean paste. It may be present in trace levels in some aged cheeses. Natural fermentation often produces a bitter, somewhat spicy aftertaste that is not necessarily pleasant. MSG often balances the flavor, providing a savory ingredient that makes the finished dish sour without being overpowering.
Potato chips and other snacks
Many processed snack foods contain sources of MSG. Potato chips and corn chips, flavored popcorn, some crackers, and packaged cookies are common examples. Snack mixes, such as trail mix, may have traces of MSG.
Seasonings
MSG is widely found in seasonings. Seasoning mixes add a savory, salty flavor to marinated meats, vegetables, soups, stews, and tacos. It’s an easy way to add umami flavor without adding too much salt.
Soups and Instant Noodle Products
MSG may be present in quick soup mixes, canned soups, and instant noodle products.
Some Dairy Products
Many types of fat-free and low-fat milk are made using powdered milk that includes MSG. Pasteurization affects MSG levels, particularly in ultra-pasteurized milk. Higher temperatures cause more milk protein to break down, producing more MSG. MSG residues can be found in ultra-pasteurized products such as powdered milk, cottage cheese, skim milk, yogurt, low-fat milk, and ice cream.
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows certain sprays or products containing MSG to be applied to fresh produce.
Infant Formulas and Foods
Most powdered infant formulas contain processed milk and soy proteins, enzymatically hydrolyzed reduced minerals, whey protein concentrate, corn syrup solids, hydrolyzed casein, modified corn starch, and carrageenan, which are broken down into MSG during the production process.
Harmful Effects
In terms of safety, MSG consumption is thought to be associated with several diet-related diseases. However, MSG is one of the most intensively studied food ingredients in the food supply. It has been found to be safe; the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization placed it in the safest category for food additives. Regarding effects on lifespan at the individual level, no previous results have been reported for longevity and health trials.
The slight or non-significant positive nutraceutical and chemopreventive potential of MSG at the ADI concentration as a safe dose for moderate consumption can be highlighted.
Alternatives to MSG
MSG has been important for food processing to provide consumers with the intense flavor they crave at low cost. When these enhancers face pushback, alternatives become critical to the market.
In Europe, the effort to replace MSG and other food additives has been most aggressive. Major manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon. Unilever reformulated its beef burgers to remove MSG and the preservative sodium metabisulfate. The company replaced the two chemical additives with rosemary extract from Slovenian botanical extract company Vitiva.
A particularly promising option, Koji-Aji from Chicago-based Ajinomoto Food Ingredients, is a combination of nucleotide-rich yeast extract, fermented wheat gluten and maltodextrin. The light yellow, water-soluble powder is low in sodium, though it does contain glutamates. Koji-Aji is suitable for a wide variety of applications to enhance reformulated products.
Mastertaste Inc. offers a unique MSG substitute called Natural Flavor Enhancer 681607, which provides the savory umami note of MSG. It is not a yeast or any other protein derivative, but rather a combination of different plant-derived cations and anions that form a unique effect. The product is positioned as a “natural flavor” and offers a clean label.
They also developed another “Umami Mouthfeel-type System” product called Natural Flavor Enhancer No. 610250. This meat protein-derived enhancer replaces disodium inosinate and guanylate in applications where those derivatives are used.
Other companies are taking broader approaches, boosting flavor by increasing heat with increased use of pepper, or increasing acid with citrus concentrates and derivatives.
For all the above reasons, further studies are needed to elucidate the biological activities and nutraceutical potential of the most clearly studied food additive.
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