Umami–The Fifth Taste Sensation 
  
January 3rd, 2008

Umami is a flavor additive that has been well known and used in parts of Asia for nearly 100 years.

Umami adds the savorful taste, aside from the four basic sweet, salty, sour and bitter that we so commonly focus on.

Umami is being used by top chefs all around the world, and yes now in the states for its explosive taste.

Packaged food companies such as Nestle, Frito-Lay and Campbell's soup are trying to ramp up the umami taste in foods like low-sodium soup to make them tast better.

So what is Umami and what is the secret?

MSG, or monosodium glutamate. MSG is a darling of the food industry and is insidiously hidden even on the label by terms such as "natural flavors." This "natural flavor" tag can go for nutritional supplements as well, so beware.

Why would they want to hide such a thing?

MSG is a proven excitotoxin which means it can excite cell death at a faster rate. Complaints have been raised such as headaches, weight gain and even seizures.

Dr Russell Blaylock, author of Excitotoxins, The Tast that Kills was even told by a food industry expert that MSG will always be in our packaged foods, no matter the opposition.

What can we do? Eat as less packaged foods as possible. Read the labels, if it seems suspicious avoid it, and if you are seeing Umami being promoted, you might just want to go the other way. 

Hidden Names for MSG
  

January 4th, 2008

In the last posting I mentioned how MSG can be hidden under terms such as "natural flavors".

What we would like to give you a list of names in which MSG may be concealed.

Natural Flavors, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Ajinomoto, Hydrolyzed milk protein, Autolyzed Yeast, Natural beef flavoring, Kombu extract, Bouillon, Natural Pork flavoring, Mei-Jing/Wei-Jing, Barley malt, Natural Chicken flavoring, RL-50, Broth, Natural seasonings, Textured protein, Calcium caseinate, Gourmet powder, Seasongings, Sodium caseinate, Glutaveve, Sube, Flavorings, Glutacyl, Malt extract, Hydrolyzed oat flour, Tamari, Malt flavoring, Hydrolyzed plant protein, Zest


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