Chinese Products

[katy]

Just been listening to the scandal of the Baby Food containing melomine. Believed to have also been exported to Europe!

Won't be the first time, a few months ago it was the toxic toothpaste from China. Then there are the dodgy alternative health practioners selling Chinese pills etc. We usually have a chinese meal around once a week, seriously having a rethink. Friend says there was once a re-call of some Chinese spice used in cooking

[Troglodyfae]

I have to confess that I have been avoiding Chinese food since coming to Spain due to the high levels of MSG. This latest bit of news further strengthens my resolve.

Mind you having said that even Bisto Gravy granules has MSG now What is the world coming to? Thank God I do not use them

[jennyshaw]

Someone please enlighten me to what is MSG?

[Colinm]

MonoSodium Glutomate - flavour enhancer

[jennyshaw]

Thank you Colin.
What are the affects of MSG?

[La Raya]

What are the affects of MSG?

No good for coeliacs, who have to have a gluten free diet, as it is high in gluten.

[julian]

anyone know of anything we can eat safely?

[El Cid]

No good for coeliacs, who have to have a gluten free diet, as it is high in gluten.

I think you will find that MSG is gluten free.

From the Canadian Celiac Association

"Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid found in many foods. It has been produced from both wheat gluten and sugar beet molasses but is now produced almost entirely from the latter in a highly purified form. Most authorities agree that it is harmless. There should be no concern among Celiacs about the use of foods containing MSG."

MSG has got a bad reputation but it is (almost) completely unfounded.

If you check it out on the Internet you will find that there is no significant medical evidence that it causes any harm whatsoever.

Sid

[Kamila]

I never liked MSG but after reading El Cid's post I did a bit of searching and found a very interesting site. According to that site a lot of food have a natural MSG in.
http://www.msgfacts.com/facts/msgfacts.html

[La Raya]

From the Canadian Celiac Association

"Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid found in many foods. It has been produced from both wheat gluten and sugar beet molasses but is now produced almost entirely from the latter in a highly purified form. Most authorities agree that it is harmless. There should be no concern among Celiacs about the use of foods containing MSG."

MSG has got a bad reputation but it is (almost) completely unfounded.

Sid

You are right Sid and I have been under a misapprehension. The timing is good as well as we are planning to go a new Chinese Restaurant on Tuesday this week! I shall enjoy the meal all the more. Thanks for that.

[pigs-might-fly]

Why not cook your Chinese food at home - then you know what's in it!
Last night I did chicken & mushroom in oyster sauce and stir fried veggies in hoi sin sauce. Only 1 tablespoonful of oil in the whole lot and no MSG. Why does any good cook need a flavour enhancer, for heaven's sake?

[Kamila]

You are very right pigs-might-fly. If the ingredients are good and fresh there is no need for flavour enhancers and it is easy to cook your own Chinese meal. But it is nice to go out for a meal every now and then.

[El Cid]

Why not cook your Chinese food at home - then you know what's in it!
Last night I did chicken & mushroom in oyster sauce and stir fried veggies in hoi sin sauce. Only 1 tablespoonful of oil in the whole lot and no MSG. Why does any good cook need a flavour enhancer, for heaven's sake?

I would be very surprised if commercial Hoi Sin or Oyster Sauce didn't have MSG or other flavour enhancers in it somewhere - the labelling rules are still pretty lax about this.

The use of MSG in foods does actually make them taste better - that's why they appear in most processed food - it's not just a "Chinese Restaurant" problem (if it's a problem at all). If you want a real MSG "hit" go to an Italian restaurant and order a tomato and mushroom pasta with loads of Parmesan on it! That would be crawling with MSG and completely natural!

It's actually quite a complex subject but if you are interested look up "Umami" on the Internet.

Sid

[katy]

Sid, thats what I was getting at. It is the ingredients that are the problem. I know some powdered spice was recently declared contaminated but can't remember which one. I buy sauces such as Teriyaki but all the writing is Japanese and no-one knows the additives or the quality of the product.

[Kamila]

Hi Kathy, I buy Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce and it doesn't seem to have any additives in it, well can't see any on a label.
Ingredientes: salsa de soja (agua, soja, trigo,sal) vino, azucar, agua, vinagre, sal, especias, cebolla en polvo, ajo en polvo.
I also buy Kikkoman soja sauce and it seems to be without additives.

[costagirl]

Hi Kamilla,

can you buy those sauces in all the supermarkets over here?

thanks

[Kamila]

I am not sure, costagirl, I bought mine in Makro. But I will have a look in the shops when I am there. Or I can get you one in Makro when I am there next, I see that you are in Torremolinos and so am I.

[Troglodyfae]

I have found that MSG is also labelled as E621. I might be the exception to El Cid's findings but I most certainly do have a very bad reaction to MSG.

Further to the main topic on this thread. Seems that Chinese sweets might be contaminated and on sale here in Spain.

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/pu ... 8185.shtml

[Kamila]

Yes, I have seen a report last night on Espana Directo about the sweets.

[El Cid]

I have found that MSG is also labelled as E621. I might be the exception to El Cid's findings but I most certainly do have a very bad reaction to MSG.

Yes, some people do have a reaction but it can often be attributed to different ingredients rather than to MSG itself and there are other flavour enhancers that magnify the effect of naturally occurring MSG in normal food products such as E627 and E631.

As I said earlier, MSG appears naturally in many foods. The other problem with labelling is that they only have to say that the food has no extra MSG added to it. Many sauce products such as Soy Sauce and similar sauces have a high percentage of naturally occurring glutamate and this does not have to be identified on the label.

Products such as Marmite and Bovril have a very high concentration of MSG in the form of yeast extracts. All stock cubes and other similar flavourings also contain high levels of MSG.

I am not trying to justify the use of MSG or say that it doesn't affect some people - it's just that I think Chinese restaurants are unfairly criticised for using it when almost all restaurants use it in one form or another.

Sid