Glutamates: are they as bad as MSG?

Are there new items on the ingredient lists that may cause reactions but do not have numbers, so they are not being watched? The Woolworths Original Rice Crackers taste as if they have a savoury salt but the label has “no added MSG”. It does contain Maltodextrin from Corn with the usual ingredients of rice, sunflower oil and antioxidant 319. But after the ingredient list it then prints “may contain naturally occurring glutamates”. Another potentially useful product: the Woolworths canned Shredded chicken breast which has modified maize starch. It has a very different flavour to the Heinz canned chicken which has only chicken, water and sea salt. Should we also be watching the McCains Hash Browns which contain “dextrose from malt” or is the amount here much lower. These products are very useful additions to a careful low chemical diet.

Diet detective work never ends! I spent my first 25 years working in this area, from 1975, investigating every food food-sensitive people were reacting to, and keeping up with reactions after that. When monosodium glutamate (MSG) was first recognized as causing reactions back in the 1970s the food industry began using a milder product: Hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP) which was tolerated by most food sensitive people in some of the mild commercial soups. But after the 1990s the amounts meant it was more often reported causing symptoms. Maltodextrin is different as it is made from the starch, not the protein, in the food. I looked up my wonderful very heavy and heavy-in-detail book Food Additives 2000 edition for help. Maltodextrin is discussed as having a different function as an ingredient. It can be used to increase the viscosity better than some gums where it is used in some salad dressings especially to make low fat products more creamy. There is no mention of flavour. But the year 2000 is “so 19 years ago” where developments in the flavor industry are concerned!

Do watch out for these foods and Leave a reply to this post so we can all learn from each other. Do note as well if you are tolerating these foods. Or if you know someone who is a food technologist, or food chemist, or works in the flavor industry do ask if they can add to this information do ask them for any information that can help understand what is happening.