monosodiumglutamate.docVIP

MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE A Safety Assessment TECHNICAL REPORT SERIES NO. 20 FOOD STANDARDS AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND June 2003 ? Food Standards Australia New Zealand 2003 ISBN 0 642 34520 1 ISSN 1448-3017 Published June 2003 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from Food Standards Australia New Zealand Food (FSANZ). Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Information Officer, Food Standards Australia New Zealand, PO Box 7168, Canberra BC, ACT 2610. An electronic version of this work is available on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) website at .au . This electronic version may be downloaded, displayed, printed and reproduced in unaltered form only for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Food Standards Australia New Zealand Australia New Zealand PO Box 7186 PO Box 10599 Canberra BC ACT 2610 Wellington Australia New Zealand Tel +61 2 6271 2241 Tel +64 4 473 9942 Fax +61 2 6271 2278 Fax +64 4 473 9855 Email info@.au Email info@t.nz TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY 3 1. INTRODUCTION 7 2. ADVERSE REACTIONS TO FOODS 7 2.1 Food allergies 8 2.2 Food intolerances 9 2.3 Adverse reactions to food additives 9 3. ADVERSE REACTIONS ATTRIBUTED TO MSG 9 3.1 Reported reactions 9 3.2 Prevalence of reactions 11 3.3 Proposed mechanisms 11 4. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MSG 12 5. SOURCES 13 5.1 Occurrence 13 5.2 Estimated intakes 13 6. KINETICS AND METABOLISM 15 6.1 The role of glutamate in metabolism 15 6.2 Kinetics and metabolism of dietary glutamate 16 7. REVIEW OF THE SAFETY OF MSG 17 7.1 Previous considerations 17 7.2 Review of scientific literature 19 REFERENCES 29 SUMMARY Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of the non-essential amino acid glutamic acid, one of the most abundant amino acids found in nature.