About MSG Safety & Benefits

FAQ

• What is Monosodium Glutamate?
  What is Monosodium Glutamate?

  MSG is a flavour enhancer/ Umami seasoning, which has been widely used for nearly a century to bring out the best flavour in foods. MSG is actually made of the most abundant amino acid known as glutamic acid or glutamate for short, sodium and water. Glutamate is found naturally in protein-containing foods, such as meat, vegetables, poultry, and milk. The human body also produces glutamate naturally in large amounts. The muscles, brain, and other body organs contain about four pounds of glutamate. Breast milk is rich in glutamate – 6 times higher compared to cow’s milk, for example.

• How is MSG made?
  How is MSG made?

  MSG is produced through a natural process called fermentation – a process similar to the making of vinegar and yogurt. MSG production begins with the fermentation of tapioca or sugar cane, followed by neutralisation and crystallisation process. The finished product is a pure, white crystal, which easily dissolves and blends well in many foods.

• Is MSG safe?
  Is MSG safe?

  Yes. MSG has been used for more than a hundred years and is one of the most studied of all food ingredients. It extensive database of hundreds of peer-reviewed studies has undergone intensive scrutiny and MSG’s safety has been confirmed time after time in reviews of this data.
  For more than four decades, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has repeatedly confirmed MSG’s safety.

  Other scientific and regulatory bodies around the world, including the American Medical Association (AMA), the European Communities Scientific Committee for Food (SCF), and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), have also reviewed the research on MSG and have affirmed its safety. MSG is so safe that the FDA has placed it on the list of substances known as “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS), right along with sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Likewise, the World Health Organization (WHO) has chosen not to set a limit on the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of MSG, classifying it as “not specified”.

• What is the consumption limit of MSG per day?
  What is the consumption limit of MSG per day?

  There is no limitation for the use of MSG as a food additive because scientific and regulatory bodies such as the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)* placed MSG in the safest category “Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) not specified” based on the extensive scientific data.

  Furthermore, MSG is a self-limiting substance. Once the proper amount is used, additional use contributes little, or not at all, to food flavor. In fact, adding too much MSG can result in a decline in palatability and is economically wasteful.

• Is MSG safe for children and pregnant women?
  Is MSG safe for children and pregnant women?

  Yes, scientific and regulatory authorities worldwide, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Medical Association (AMA), the European Commission Scientific Committee for Food, and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), have reviewed the research on MSG and have repeatedly affirmed its safety for the general population, including children and pregnant women.

• Are people sensitive to MSG?
  Are people sensitive to MSG?

  No. MSG is not an allergen, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found no evidence to suggest any long-term, serious health consequences from consuming MSG. It is possible that some people might be sensitive to MSG, just as to many other foods and food ingredients. There are some reports that mild, temporary reactions to MSG may occur in a small portion of the population, based on tests with a large dose of MSG in the absence of food.

• Does MSG cause baldness or hair loss?
  Does MSG cause baldness or hair loss?

  There is no scientific support for this claim. Baldness or hair fall may be caused by several factors, namely: Genetic; stress and social pressures; medication; other hair related factors, for example, scalp and hair infection from fungi, and more.

• Is MSG related to the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS)?
  Is MSG related to the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS)?

  Chinese restaurant syndrome describes transient discomfort some people may feel after ingesting certain foods and beverages. In 1987, JECFA concluded that “Properly conducted double-blind studies among individuals who claimed to suffer the syndrome did not confirm monosodium glutamate as the causal agent”. (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. L-glutamic acid and its ammonium, calcium monosodium and potassium salts. In Toxicological Evaluation of Certain Food Additives and Contaminants. WHO Food Additives Series No. 22, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 97-161, 1988.) This conclusion was affirmed by a comprehensive review and strictly controlled study at the University of Western Sydney in 1993. (Tarasoff L, Kelly M. F. Monosodium L-glutamate: a double blind study and review. Food Chemical Toxicology, 31: 1019 •1035, 1993.

• Does MSG cause thirst?
  Does MSG cause thirst?

  There is no scientific support for this claim; Thirst happens naturally when body fluid control is imbalance. Imbalance can caused by severe loss of blood; sweat during a very strenuous exercise; high sodium intake. Looking at the cause of high sodium intake, of course, MSG contains sodium. However, MSG contains only 12% of sodium, whereas table salt contains approximately 40%, and the amount of MSG used for cooking can be far less than that for salt, the thirst-response to MSG if any should far less than that to salt.

• Does MSG cause migraine headaches?
  Does MSG cause migraine headaches?

  No. Migraine headaches are severe, often debilitating headaches. While there are many theories about what causes migraines, such as heredity, neurological brain disorder, and blood vessel disorders, there are no double-blind, placebo controlled studies linking MSG to migraines.
  Some studies have implicated MSG as a trigger for headaches. One 1991 study sought to establish this connection through MSG elimination diets and self-reported symptoms, rather than the double-blind challenge technique considered more appropriate in clinical research of this nature.

  There are many known “triggers” for headaches, including diet and stress. A wide array of foods has been implicated as headache triggers. However, a 1990 critical review of the literature on food-triggered headaches concluded that the relationship is controversial. The review further states that there is no evidence to support an association between MSG and migraine headaches.
  The exact cause of migraine is not fully understood. Some researchers believe that migraine is rooted in a neurological disorder in the brain, others believe that it is a blood vessel disorder. Hereby also plays role in migraine headaches.