I work as a chef at a Chinese restaurant and sometimes customers ask for no MSG. This request is virtually impossible to meet. We add pure MSG to our food but hydrolyzed vegetable protein is an ingredient in most of our sauces and soup stocks. All soy sauce has MSG in it. As soy protein hydrolyzes, it breaks up into free amino acids which includes glutamic acid.
Even naturally brewed organic soy sauce has MSG in it. To produce it a mould which produces protease enzymes is grown on wheat. This mouldy wheat is then mixed with steamed soybeans and salt and left to ferment for at least a year.
In the pre-industrialized world there were entire industries producing natural MSG. It's not just an Asian thing. In Europe cheese has been used as a source of MSG for thousands of years. It makes food taste nicer. And regardless of popular myths, it is not harmful to your health.
Even naturally brewed organic soy sauce has MSG in it. To produce it a mould which produces protease enzymes is grown on wheat. This mouldy wheat is then mixed with steamed soybeans and salt and left to ferment for at least a year.
In the pre-industrialized world there were entire industries producing natural MSG. It's not just an Asian thing. In Europe cheese has been used as a source of MSG for thousands of years. It makes food taste nicer. And regardless of popular myths, it is not harmful to your health.
