New Zealand Listener

MSG hysteria

During World War II, a white crystalline salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG), was added to US troops’ tasteless food packs to give them some flavour. MSG delivers a savoury, tangy, salty, meaty taste of sun-dried tomatoes or dried yeast.

By war’s end, everybody was using MSG as an addition to table salt. Only a pinch was

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