When cooking, a rare housewife dispenses with the use of spices and seasonings that significantly improve the natural taste of the dish. Allspice, bay leaf, ginger and coriander ... such “tasty” names familiar from childhood. Recently, the list has replenished with an unusual chemical substance - monosodium glutamate. It is impossible to call it a spice in the full sense of the word, however, its impact on the food industry is enormous.
Why does one product seem tastier than another? The answer is simple: it’s all about the ability of the components of the dish to affect the taste buds of the human tongue. The more intense this effect, the brighter and richer the taste. For example, regular garlic contains a natural flavor enhancer. The highest concentration of this substance in fresh foods, and then it gradually drops. Having understood the mechanism, many researchers threw all their efforts into finding an artificial substitute, and once it was found. It turned out to be the flavor enhancer e621, which is one of the whole list (600-699) of registered food additives.
The history of sodium glutamate began back in 1907, when a compound of glutamic acid and monosubstituted sodium was synthesized at the University of Tokyo. This substance is involved in the transmission of impulses by the nervous system, causing an excited state and is prescribed as a stimulant to some patients in psychiatry. A medicine is a medicine, but with its salt, called the “flavor enhancer”, everything is much more complicated.
Physically, monosodium glutamate is a white or yellowish powder that is readily soluble in water without taste and odor, but when added to food it enhances its taste, irritating the receptors of the tongue. This means that in the production of meat dishes you can use very little meat, and replace the rest with soy protein or an even cheaper analogue and add a flavor enhancer. A person who has consumed such a product will be delighted with the rich meat aroma. Thus, it is possible to give a “second life” even frankly low-quality food. In fact, the modern food industry is impossible without it.
At present, flavor enhancers are produced in quantities of over 200,000 tons per year. Sausages, convenience foods, chips, crackers, small dried fish - this is not a complete list of products flavored with such substances. It would seem that use a flavor enhancer and enjoy the new rich taste of the usual food. However, more and more reputable scientists, after conducting a series of experiments with laboratory rats, declare a possible danger. Monosodium glutamate with a daily intake of more than 3 grams is considered dangerous. Researchers claim that this substance is not completely excreted from the body, but gradually accumulates in the tissues of the body and liver, subsequently causing serious health problems. Japanese H. Oguro, who studied the issue for a long time, came to the conclusion that the use of flavor enhancers increases the likelihood of future problems with vision and blurred retina several times. Although the debate about the dangers of such an additive has been going on for a long time, it has been proven that its use is addictive, and the natural taste of food seems fresh to the person.
Tourists who were seduced by Chinese or Korean cuisine must have experienced dizziness, nausea, and general malaise after visiting the restaurant. This is not surprising, because almost all dishes add a large amount of monosodium glutamate. In some Korean restaurants, yellowish powder is served on the table in the same way as salt. For indigenous people, high standards of taste enhancer are familiar, because they absorbed the substance with mother's milk.
The number of diseases that has sharply increased in recent decades can be associated, among other things, with taste enhancers that humanity is so accustomed to. Is it time to limit the use of harmful additives and carefully choose products?