Description

Monosodium glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most abundant naturally-occurring non-essential amino acids. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given MSG its generally recognized as safe designation.

MSG is derived from an amino acid called glutamic acid, which occurs naturally in foods such as mushrooms, aged parmesan cheese and fermented soybean products like soy sauce. Glutamic acid belongs to a broad category of compounds calledglutamates, which are the source of a flavor called umami.