Sodium Glutamate Research Paper

MSG or monosodium glutamate is a sodium salt of glutamic acid which can be naturally found in many common foods that are rich in protein content such as dairy products, meat, vegetable and mother’s milk. In fact, our own bodies do produce glutamic acid via Krebs cycle during metabolizing food. Glutamate is the most abundant naturally occurring non-essential amino acid (Ninomiya, 1998) and it is a very common part of our diet. In the food industry, MSG is widely used as a flavor enhancer. It is responsible for cranking up the sensational umami flavors on our tongue to make bland food taste delicious. Umami can be described as a savory flavor and was named after the Japanese word “Umai” which means delicious (Ikeda, 2002). MSG was first discovered in 1908 by biochemist Kikunae Ikeda, the Japanese man who identified the natural flavor enhancing substance in seaweed. Today, MSG is added to recipe of many fast food and junk food to make them taste more wonderful. MSG is also used as a food additive in most soup, canned food, frozen dinner and crackers.
Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) include MSG as a “generally recognized as safe” food additive as well as World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO) has confirmed that MSG is safe to use under common condition, many people claim that consuming MSG especially in large quantities, can cause negative side effects like headaches, dizziness, flushing, nausea, rapid heartbeat and