Have you ever heard of ---- "Chinese Food Syndrome"?
The term was included in the best-selling Merriam-Webster Dictionary in the United States as early as the 70s and 80s of the last century, referring to a series of syndromes caused by "MSG", but it was eventually confirmed that this was just a oolong event, and the dictionary was eventually revised accordingly.
But the doubts about MSG are like flooding seawater, constantly pushing Chinese food into the public opinion of different opinions.
MSG, but considered harmful?
Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate, as early as 1908, a university professor in Tokyo, Japan, Kikuna Ikeda, while drinking soup, suddenly found that the soup in bonito fillets and kelp had a unique "umami taste".
The taste was different from the usual sweet, salty, sour, bitter, etc., so he used his expertise to extract it, and eventually found that this umami taste originated from a substance in kelp---- glutamic acid and salt.
In 1909, sodium glutamate was first made, and Ikeda named the substance "Ajinomoto" and began selling it in the Japanese market.
In 1968, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article in which a doctor had thirst, numbness, palpitations after eating Chinese food... He suspected that these symptoms might be related to MSG.
Soon, more and more Americans think that they have eaten the MSG added to Chinese food, which in turn causes high blood pressure, obesity, cancer, etc., and MSG has become a negative word in many Chinese restaurants, resulting in many stores having to hang up slogans such as "do not use MSG".
(A restaurant in California labels "MSG" on its menu.)
But in fact, this is just an oolong incident, MSG has been evaluated and analyzed by various professional institutions, and no corresponding harmful substances have been found.
In 1973, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization joint expert committee on food additives re-evaluated MSG and concluded that ----
"As long as it is legal and fair use, MSG is safe, and there is even no need to set a limit."
In the double-blind crossover study, experts also did not find a necessary link between "lunch syndrome" and monosodium glutamate, so in the Australian and New Zealand food standards, the serious adverse reactions of monosodium glutamate were also explicitly denied.
(Chinese Food Syndrome – Life-threatening Symptoms?) It's all rumors! ）
MONOSodium glutamate, heated will cause cancer?
Some people believe that ----- MSG will produce carcinogens after heating, and eating too much will cause cancer, so it is not recommended to add it when cooking.
But in fact, this advice is not motivated by health concerns.
When MSG is heated to a high temperature above 120 ° C, sodium pyroglutamate is indeed produced, but this substance is not carcinogenic, but it just makes MSG lose its umami taste, and loses the role of MSG itself.
And some people think that chicken essence will be healthier than MSG.
Many people believe that chicken essence is a seasoning extracted from chicken meat or chicken soup, but this statement is wrong.
The main raw material in chicken essence is sodium glutamate, and sodium glutamate here refers to monosodium glutamate.
Among them, 40% of the substances are monosodium glutamate, and the remaining 60% of the substances are made of salt, spices, cooking spices and other flavor enhancers, so chicken essence belongs to a compound seasoning.
Because it contains a large amount of fibrous nucleotides in chicken essence, this ingredient belongs to a freshener, so it makes the freshness very strong, which is twice as much as monosodium glutamate.
Therefore, whether chicken essence really contains chicken ingredients depends on the brand and price of the merchant.
Neither chicken essence nor MONOS can eat more
Whether it is monosodium glutamate or other fresheners, it contains a lot of sodium.
A long-term high-sodium diet will not only increase the incidence of cardiovascular disease, but also trigger the risk of other cancers such as stomach cancer.
Therefore, for people with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, edema and other diseases, it is not suitable to consume high-sodium foods to avoid aggravation of the disease.
Therefore, when lifting the taste, it is recommended that the appropriate amount is the mainstay.
In addition, in China, MSG has never been criticized by food safety agencies, and experts organized by the Mainland Fermentation Industry Association in the national medical community, nutritional food industry, cooking industry and other aspects have not found that MSG does not cause too much health risks to the human body.
The MONOS glutamate itself is made by vitamin fermentation, which is similar to the production process and wine and vinegar.
Since we can accept wine and vinegar, why can't we accept MSG?
bibliography:
[1] Wu Bo. Study on formula optimization and quality characteristics of salt-reducing and low-sodium chicken essence seasonings[D].Wuhan Polytechnic University, 2019.
[2] Wang Jiaqin. Scientific understanding of the role of monosodium glutamate and chicken essence[J].Fermentation Science and Technology Newsletter, 2003(01):18.