Monosodium glutamate as a tool to reduce sodium in foodstuffs: Technological and safety aspects

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the most commonly used ingredient to provide salty taste to foods. However, excess sodium in the bloodstream has been associated with the development of several chronic noncommunicable diseases. In order to limit sodium intake to levels considered safe, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends for adults a daily intake of not more than 5 g of NaCl (less than 2 g of sodium). One of the strategic actions recommended by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to reduce sodium intake is reformulation of processed foods. This recommendation indicates there is an urgent need to find salt substitutes, and umami compounds have been pointed as an alternative strategy. Like salty, umami is also a basic taste and the major compound associated to umami is monosodium L-glutamate (MSG). The available scientific data on the toxicity of MSG has been evaluated by scientific committees and regulatory agencies. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) not specified, which indicated that the substance offers no health risk when used as a food additive. The United States Food and Drug Administration and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology classified MSG as a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) substance. In this paper, an overview about salty and umami taste physiology, the potential applications of MSG use to reduce sodium content in specific industrialized foods and safety aspects of MSG as food additive are presented.