This Day, That Year – July 25

This day in history we feature Ajinomoto. Kikunae Ikeda discovered a key ingredient in kombu soup stock used as a base for many Japanese soups on this day in 1908.

Trivia – Ajinomoto

Professor Kikunae Ikeda at Tokyo Imperial University, created monosodium glutamate (MSG) seasoning made from wheat that he invented and patented. Ajinomoto is a compound made from sodium and glutamic acid, and prepared with plant-based ingredients like sugar beet, sugar cane, corn or cassava. It is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with an umami taste that intensifies the meaty, savory flavor of food, as naturally occurring glutamate does in foods such as stews and meat soups.

Related read – UN marks World Food Safety Day to mobilize action.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given MSG its generally recognized as safe designation. It is a popular myth that MSG can cause headaches and other feelings of discomfort, known as “Chinese restaurant syndrome”, but blinded studies show no such effects when MSG is combined with food in normal concentrations, and are inconclusive when MSG is added to broth in large concentrations.

Source – Wikipedia

This day in history – Ajinomoto