MSG or monosodium glutamate is a compound that does not fit into any particular seasoning category. It influences flavor without contributing any flavor of its own.
Hundreds of years ago in Asia, people found that food cooked in a seaweed-based soup stock had a unique flavor. In 1909, this compound was isolated from seaweed by a Japanese scientist and called
umami meaning “delicious”. Its scientific name, monosodium glutamate, comes from glutamic acid, an amino acid found in seaweed. It is now widely used in processed foods, including canned/dried soups, spaghetti sauces, sausages, and frozen meat dishes. It has been implicated in “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, in which MSG-sensitive people experience nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, grogginess, sleepiness, warmth, headache, chest pain, and arthritis-like symtoms from consuming MSG.
