Subject: Re: Cup'oSoup
From: mannj@southern.co.nz (Jay Mann)
Date: Oct 02 1996
Newsgroups: rec.food.preserving

Paul Hinrichs (paulhinr@nando.net) wrote:
: On 22 Sep 1996 20:02:01 -0400, lebasel@bessel.nando.net (lebasel) noted:
[snip]
: >I'm afraid, Kahley, that you might not like this answer.  Most of 
: >that taste is due to extra salt, or worse, MSG.  I found that

Will this urban legend about MSG never die?  All sorts of medical tests 
using MSG or inert compounds in capsules have shown no evidence for any 
link with Chinese restaurant syndrome.  But there is good evidence for 
the Chinese restaurant syndrome being caused by histamine, coming from 
certain soy sauces or other condiments.  The cure for these nasty 
symptoms is to take an antihistamine. 

There are many foods with lots of glutamic acid.  Lettuce, for one 
(although I don't have any numbers).  Glutamic acid really adds to the 
taste of foods, and I personally resent manufacturers who print "No MSG" 
on their packets of food. It's like saying, "This food doesn't taste as 
good as it might".  However, careful reading of the labels almost always 
shows that the food contains "vegetable hydrolysate", where that 
hydrolysate is about 50% glutamic acid. That satisfies the taste buds 
while also fooling the nutritional hypochondriacs.

Jay D Mann  <mannj@southern.co.nz>
Christchurch, New Zealand