Do you use Ajinamoto?

Question

I live in Far Eastern country. One day I told a friend that I used to go to vegetarian restaurant. He than warn me that those vegetarian restauran use a lot of ajinamoto in their cooking. He said ajinamoto is bad for health. But what I heard from radio talk, magazine is that ajinamoto will not cause health problem. So, who is correct?

Answer 1

The first lady has a point, I am a former chef and worked in Japan and they have used it for years, it is a food and flavour enhancer, like salt it brings out the flavours in food, in Japan it is even on some tables to add extra.

All of the recent studies point to as "ME" said to it not being good for you, I try to stay away from it buying things with no MSG in the, and I use a product up here in Canada marketed as "Half Salt" a salt subsititute.

If it is used by cooks in veggie restaurants it is to add flavour and boost the feeling you get when eating certain foods, I would not recommend it, and the less salt the better.

Answer 2

Ajinomoto (actually a brand) is also known as MSG and chinese salt. It is frequently used as a flavor enhancer in variety of foods such as Chinese cuisine and packaged foods. Its use has become controversial in the past 30 years because of reports of adverse reactions in people who’ve eaten foods that contain MSG.

Why is MSG bad? One set of research establishes “damaging effects on the brain” to “cancer” while some other results show MSG to be  Ã¢Â€Âœcompletely harmless”. One study has established that MSG is no different than regular salt in terms of its effects.

MSG is a salt obtained from sodium and amino acid and glutamic acid. Very similar to the common salt that is result of sodium and hydrochrolic acid. It was patented by a japanese company Ajinomoto in 1909. MSG is sold in crystalline form and because of its salty taste and frequent use in chinese cuisine, it has come to be known as Chinese salt in certain regions. Asians originally used a seaweed broth to obtain the flavor- enhancing effects of MSG, but today MSG is made by a fermenting process using starch, sugar beets, sugar cane, or molasses.

I have always favored being safe when in doubt. Considering that doctors today talk about reducing sodium intake to be less than 4g, we need to be wary of anything that contains sodium, including common salt. Avoid cheaper chinese food vendors such as roadside peddlars who use enormous amount of MSG to create that “chinese” taste. Prepare chinese food at home without MSG. I don’t think you will find the difference in flavor remarkable anyway.

Stay safe and if possible avoid MSG. However, once in a while, consuming a few grams of it in inevitable situations (such as a party) is not going to kill you either.

Answer 3

No, I don't use Ajinamoto or MSG.

We have lots of Vegetarian Restaurant here that don't use MSG.