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Everything you need to know about monosodium glutamate
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The OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users) classifies and values it as “not recommended additive” but why would its consumption be bad?
Do you know what is the monosodium glutamate? Surely not, but with total security you take it in your daily diet. As the nutrition experts Sara Martínez, from Alimmenta, and Mireia Cabrera, from Teknon, tell us about a food additive that improves the taste of food making them more palatable to the consumer, since it is a flavor enhancer, providing the food with a salty flavor similar to meat.
And this, as you can imagine, is something that dieticians-nutritionists or specialists in food safety do not recommend … The OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users) classifies and values it as “not recommended additive”. Why would its consumption be bad? Explains dietitian-nutritionist Mireia Cabrera, from
the Endoscopy Unit of the Teknon Medical Center in Barcelona, which is associated with the so-called «Chinese restaurant syndrome» due to its widespread use in oriental cuisine. «This syndrome is characterized by discomfort such as headache, nausea and in some cases chest tightness and facial flushing“, He says.
Uses of glutamate
You will wonder in what foods we can find monosodium glutamate … Well, says nutritionist Sara Martínez, from Alimmenta, a nutrition center, which is used in the food industry to enhance or enhance the flavor of food, especially in processed foods: «It is linked to the effect of not being able to stop eating due to the taste of certain snacks such as potato chips or some praised nuts; in short, related to the «fifth flavor» umami».
Therefore, it would be present in most processed foods: chips, olives, kikos, croquettes, worms, fine pastries, soups and broths, sauces, meat and meat products such as sausages, among others. “We can also find it naturally in cheeses such as Roquefort or Parmesan, in walnuts, mushrooms and tomatoes, and even in beef or chicken”, alerts the Alimmenta expert.
In order to identify this additive, the dietician-nutritionist Mireia Cabrera warns that it can be read on the label, although, for example, in ham-flavored potatoes or olives stuffed with anchovy, in many cases we will see that the ingredients of these foods “will not contain either ham or anchovy, but it will consist of the famous E-620 or E-625 (monosodium glutamate) ‘. In other cases, these ingredients may be present, but in very small proportions and glutamate is “responsible for enhancing that flavor much more despite the low concentrations.”
Cabrera warns that the European Union currently allows an addition of 10 grams of glutamate per kg of food in most foods, except in salt substitutes, salads and condiments: “In the latter cases, there is no maximum limit.”
For its part, the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), establishes the admissible daily intake (ADI) of glutamates (in any of its forms) at 30 mg per kilo of body weight. Instead, experts believe that exposure to these additives may exceed the ADI for all population groups.
Does this additive cause harm?
They explain from the OCU that due to its power as a flavor enhancer, there are numerous studies that relate it to overweight and the obesity, and further suggest that it may have neurotoxic effects. Possible reprotoxic and embryotoxic effects have also been raised.
Today, its use is safe in the amounts determined by the European Union, although the main problem is that although many foods contain it at legal concentrations, if we calculate the total amount we eat throughout the day from different foods, he assures Mireia Cabrera who most likely we would exceed the recommended daily intake, especially if we base our diet on so-called “processed foods.”
«This excess of monosodium glutamate makes our palate get used to this characteristic flavor. It makes certain foods very palatable, greatly enhancing their flavor and in this way when we eat foods that do not contain it or that contain it naturally (without being a additive), we have the feeling that this food «tastes little to us» », concludes Mireia Cabrera.