Interesting short video about MSG

[taxlady]

I found this very informative. I hope this is accurate.

 

[Andy M.]

Very informative. Thank you.

 

[pictonguy]

Yeah, I'll go along with that, although I haven't fact checked everything he said but I have confidence he know what he's talking about mostly because of what I know about MSG he was correct.

 

[RobertHolloway]

You are right, is it!

 

[Steve Kroll]

Wow... I learned something new. I've always thought MSG is used, mostly in Asian cooking, to "homogenize" the flavors. This video refutes that claim, or at least clarifies it somewhat.

 

[dragnlaw]

It's strange, we always used to use "Accent" way back. Never knew and never looked to see what it really was. Had never heard of MSG. Always had a shaker in the cupboard, used it to 'enhance' flavours.

Then it became vilified and it wasn't on shelves anymore. It came back slowly when Chinese/Japanese cooking became popular to be made by home cooks but by that time I had pretty much forgotten about it. Never quite understood the vilification although my brother swore it gave him headaches, it probably did and so I refrained from using it.

I still don't have any (that I know of) mainly as I have so many other seasonings it just doesn't seem owrth it.

 

[msmofet]

I use Accent and MSG.

 

[jennyema]

I use MSG in most of my savory cooking. Just a tiny pinch — like a 16thof a teaspoon — from a Sazon packet .

 

[Andy M.]

I use Accent and MSG.

Accent IS MSG.

 

[msmofet]

Accent is a Brand:
The ingredients for Accent flavor enhancer are:

• Monosodium glutamate
• Salt
• Chili pepper
• Tricalcium phosphate (anticaking agent)
• Cumin
• Oregano
• Paprika extractives (color)
• • Garlic extractives
  • Onion extractives
  • Yellow 6 Lake and Yellow 5 Lake
    
    

MSG:
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is made of water, sodium, and glutamate:

• Glutamate: An amino acid that's naturally found in many foods, including tomatoes, mushrooms, anchovies, and Parmesan cheese.
• Sodium: A salt.

 

[Andy M.]

Accent is a Brand:
The ingredients for Accent flavor enhancer are:

• Monosodium glutamate
• Salt
• Chili pepper
• Tricalcium phosphate (anticaking agent)
• Cumin
• Oregano
• Paprika extractives (color)
• • Garlic extractives
  • Onion extractives
  • Yellow 6 Lake and Yellow 5 Lake

MSG:
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is made of water, sodium, and glutamate:

• Glutamate: An amino acid that's naturally found in many foods, including tomatoes, mushrooms, anchovies, and Parmesan cheese.
• Sodium: A salt.

You're looking at the wrong product:

Ac'cent: The Perfect MSG Seasoning for Your Dishes

Enhance the flavor of your favorite dishes with Accent Flavor Enhancer. This MSG seasoning brings out the natural taste of meats and vegetables.

accentflavor.com

 

[dragnlaw]

I could not find anywhere on the Ac'cent blog what their ingredients were but I did find this....
*************
The glutamate in Ac'cent is derived from corn, and the fermentation process used to make it is similar to the process used to make vinegar, yogurt, and beer.

Ac'cent also contains other ingredients, including:
Salt, Chili pepper, Tricalcium phosphate, Cumin, Oregano, Paprika extracts, Garlic extracts, Onion extracts, Yellow 6 Lake, and Yellow 5 Lake.
********************
Just like msmofet posted, I'm not sure what you are saying, Andy?

 

[taxlady]

Sodium is not a salt. Sodium is a metal, an alkali metal to be exact. When it combines with chlorine, it becomes NaCl, salt, the kind we usually eat. It can be part of sodium hydroxide AKA lye.

 

[taxlady]

I got to wondering about the fact that vinegar will deactivate MSG. Is it something special about vinegar or is it the low pH (high acidity)? Would lemon juice deactivate MSG? What about yogourt or buttermilk?

 

[dragnlaw]

If Sodium is not a salt then why does every single jar/bottle/container I have lists the mineral sodium in the Nutritional columns and not the chlorine which is also a mineral? Chlorine becomes chloride + sodium = salt.
They list salt as an Ingredient so why not Sodium Chloride in the Nutritional listing? Why not list it as Sodium Chloride? Both are important to the body, both in slightly different ways, both are minerals. Or why not just list it as Salt in both lists?
Edit: It is not as if it is manmade... it exists as that, mined as that, used as that.

 

[taxlady]

If Sodium is not a salt then why does every single jar/bottle/container I have lists the mineral sodium in the Nutritional columns and not the chlorine which is also a mineral? Chlorine becomes chloride + sodium = salt.
They list salt as an Ingredient so why not Sodium Chloride in the Nutritional listing? Why not list it as Sodium Chloride? Both are important to the body, both in slightly different ways, both are minerals. Or why not just list it as Salt in both lists?
Edit: It is not as if it is manmade... it exists as that, mined as that, used as that.

I think that is because your body doesn't care where you get the sodium from. It will use that sodium. It can come from other ingredients than NaCl salt. For example, it comes in MSG.

 

[dragnlaw]

That still doesn't explain why they are listed separately. The sodium is listed as if it was added separately to the chloride. I ask because although I am not a chemist, scientist nor engineer, my father was a chemical engineer and would drop bits and pieces of knowledge that I would pick up. One be that sodium is not found alone. I've copied a section from the NIH to help describe...
Although sodium is the sixth most abundant element on earth and comprises about 2.6% of the earth's crust, it is a very reactive element and is never found free in nature. Pure sodium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1807 through the electrolysis of caustic soda (NaOH).

That pretty much explains why I ask. LOL taxy, not expecting you to answer for the companies that supply the nutritional and ingredients.

 

[Andy M.]

I could not find anywhere on the Ac'cent blog what their ingredients were but I did find this....
*************
The glutamate in Ac'cent is derived from corn, and the fermentation process used to make it is similar to the process used to make vinegar, yogurt, and beer.

Ac'cent also contains other ingredients, including:
Salt, Chili pepper, Tricalcium phosphate, Cumin, Oregano, Paprika extracts, Garlic extracts, Onion extracts, Yellow 6 Lake, and Yellow 5 Lake.
********************
Just like msmofet posted, I'm not sure what you are saying, Andy?

What I'm saying is that there is more than one version of the product on the market with the Accent name.

Here is the carton from my spice rack:

 

[dragnlaw]

Finally saw the Ingredient list - LOL

 

[taxlady]

If Sodium is not a salt then why does every single jar/bottle/container I have lists the mineral sodium in the Nutritional columns and not the chlorine which is also a mineral? Chlorine becomes chloride + sodium = salt.
They list salt as an Ingredient so why not Sodium Chloride in the Nutritional listing? Why not list it as Sodium Chloride? Both are important to the body, both in slightly different ways, both are minerals. Or why not just list it as Salt in both lists?
Edit: It is not as if it is manmade... it exists as that, mined as that, used as that.

Sodium is not a salt. Sodium chloride (NaCl) is a salt. Potassium Chloride (KCl) is also a salt. It is also used in food. There are undoubtedly other salts that we use in food. While KCl has a salty taste, it doesn't have any sodium. It would be ambiguous to simply list it as "salt". If someone needs to keep track of their sodium consumption, they need to keep track of all the sodium they consume, not just the sodium in "salt". There are salts without sodium and there food sources of sodium that aren't salts.

Yes, sodium is very reactive, but not just with chlorine. It's very reactive with lots of stuff.

I studied chemical engineering for a year. My sister is a retired chemical engineer. I do have a bit of understanding about this.