Banned: MSG — the ‘Evil Salt of the East’
Conspiracy theories and controversy
There are few foods so maligned in the West as monosodium glutamate, often simplified to MSG. Food labels and menus will be emblazoned with ‘MSG free’, a badge of honour from companies who are doing little but playing into our fears of what we’re eating to sell us products at marked up prices.
Our fear of MSG is steeped in controversy and conspiracy theories, but how did we get to this point?
Discovery and arrival in the West
In 1908, Japanese chemist Kikunae Idkeda asked his wife how she made how she made such delicious soups. Her answer was simple: seaweed. She would steep it water and from there the taste that is so prominent in Asian cuisine could infuse the broth. Idkeda was able to isolate the glutamic acid, the compound that gives MSG its distinct taste, mix it with sodium, and began to manufacture and sell it commercially, becoming fabulously wealthy in the process. He is also responsible for contributing the phrase ‘umami’ to our lexicon, a ‘fifth taste’ to add to the sweet, sour, salty and bitter that we all know and love.
