Monosodium Glutamate

HappyIdiotTalk

anudeglory wrote: »

Did it though or was it the expectation (ergo placebo) that it would boost the flavour? I see no double-blind comparison of trout without the MSG?

Definitely. I tried a bit on its own before I added the msg, there was a very noticeable difference afterwards which was certainly not expectation. It really does add depth to the flavour and taste. Yum.

HappyIdiotTalk

eslick wrote: »

If you have little children watch them with it as they dont tollerate it very well.

Not according to this lot:

http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/msgbroch.cfm

MSG Safety

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Designates MSG as safe (Generally Recognized as Safe/GRAS), with common ingredients such as salt and baking powder. (1958)
National Academy of Sciences: Confirms the safety of MSG as a food ingredient. (1979)
Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations World Health and Food and Agricultural Organizations: Designates MSG as safe and places it in its safest category for food additives. (1988)
European Community's Scientific Committee for Food: Confirms MSG safety. (1991)
American Medical Association: Concludes that MSG is safe, at normal consumption levels in the diet. (1992)
FDA: Reaffirms MSG safety based upon a report from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. (1995)
Is MSG safe for children?

Yes. Infants, including premature babies, metabolize glutamate the same as adults. Research has shown that newborn infants are able to detect and prefer the taste of glutamate. Glutamate is actually 10 times more abundant in human breast milk than in cow's milk.

eslick

HappyIdiotTalk wrote: »

Not according to this lot:

http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/msgbroch.cfm

there is a oil used in low fat crisp and other things in the US that is approved by the FDA, 3 or 4 years ago it had to be clearly marked on the label of the product that it can cause stomach problem. The big manufacturers pushed for these labels be removed and won stating that non enough people were affected by the stomach problem. The FDA then change their view after the court case. The numbers were in the high hundreds of thousands of people... the product isnt licenced in Europe and the companies wont try to get it licenced. Sorry if I dont trust the FDA.

stumpycat

You could also try Indian & Afro Caribbean shops - I've bought MSG in Trinidad - you can get it in packets and tins, you can get it as big crystals, which are lovely!

As for health problems - well yes too much sodium will screw up many processes and isn't a good thing, but then again so will too much of anything. (e.g. black pepper & celery...)

asbokid

eslick wrote: »

Sorry if I dont trust the FDA.

Indeed not, and me neither!

The junk food industry is clearly aware that people are wising up to the dangers of food additives.

Tate & Lyle are heavily marketing sucralose, their billion-buck patented new sweetener. "It tastes like sugar, because it is made from sugar!", say the adverts. T&L's shareholders love it!

And naturally sucralose also has FDA approval, as well as the blessing of the European and British food safety agencies.

So it must be safe, yes?

Maybe not.

Once you start probing beyond the propaganda, the evidence becomes worrisome..

There is growing concern that sucralose is a carcinogen.. This is quite plausible given the synthesis process involved. And laboratory tests on rats have shown that the sweetener causes an elevation in risk of certain cancers.

Tate & Lyle, those old tyrants from the Slave Trade days, are naturally keen to re-assure us over their sweetener's safety. No surprise.. The product is worth billions to them. And we are the useless eaters of it.

Yes, say T&L, sucralose does cause cancer, but probably only in rats, and probably not in humans, and probably only when you consume more sucralose than the recommended daily intake.

So that's all right then! Panic over!

If anyone is still concerned about food safety, Sucralose has been shown to cause testicular cancer....

asbokid

HappyIdiotTalk wrote: »

Not according to this lot:

http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/msgbroch.cfm

What scientific credibility to their propaganda?

The IFIC is an industry-funded front organisation, bankrolled by Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, ADM, Coke..

http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=3414&name=International-Food-Information-Council---IFIC