Hyderabad: While all restaurateurs serving Chinese denies using MSG or Monosodium Glutamate, there is no actual ban on it though the FSSAI has restricted it for the infants below 12 months.
MSG enhances natural flavours of poultry, meat, seafood etc. due to the heightened perception of the “umami” taste (Japanese for delicious). Umami is the fifth basic taste in addition to the four traditional tastes – sweet, sour, salty and bitter.
Chef Mandaar Sukhtankar , executive chef at the Park Hotel, Hyderabad says, “MSG is a glutamate and this effect is also available in natural ingredients like mushroom, tomato and Parmesan cheese, which also has the same effect as MSG. The use of MSG and its affects is more or less a big myth, however after the news broke out about MSG, many hotels have banned or reduced its usage.”
Executive chef Raghu Ramaswamy, meanwhile, said, “MSG or Chinese salt or ajinomoto is not too friendly. We never use it in our outlet; instead we do aromatic seasoning, powder made of vegetables wherein the nutrient content of the vegetable is extracted and dehydrated and made it into a power form and used as a taste enhancer.”
Dr B. Sesikeran, former director, National Institute of Nutrition , Indian council of Medical Research said, “MSG is a flavour enhancing food additive which is used primarily in Asian cooking. It helps reduce addition of salt to food as it naturally contains sodium but in much lesser amounts than table salt. The amount of glutamate people consume via MSG/ processed foods is very similar to the amount of glutamate people consume via natural products. Clinical studies in humans have failed to confirm an involvement of MSG in the “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” or other idiosyncratic intolerance. Interestingly, although MSG is perceived to contain high levels of sodium, in fact, it contains less than third the amount of sodium we consume as common salt. When MSG is added to a preparation, the dish requires less common salt than normal, reducing the total sodium intake.”
MSG is a form of naturally occurring glutamate and is the sodium salt of free glutamic acid. Glutamate is an amino acid our body needs and naturally present in food. It is 100 per cent vegetarian and is obtained from carbohydrate sources via a natural fermentation process similar to used in making cheese and yogurt.
