False alarm about MSG

False alarm about MSG

In my opinion, the release from Public Interest Research and
Advocacy Center (PIRAC) on the dangers of monosodium glutamate
(MSG) as printed by The Jakarta Post on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2 is an
exaggeration and a false alarm.

According to the release, the snacks that Sucofindo has
examined contain 0.46 percent to 1.59 percent MSG per packet, of
between 14 grams and 20 grams. Quantitatively, the MSG content in
each packet ranges between 60mg and 240mg.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the
acceptable daily intake (ADI) of MSG is 153mg per kilogram of
body weight. This means that a child weighing 20kg or an adult
weighing 50kg can safely consume 3g and 7.5g of MSG,
respectively, every day throughout their lives. Clearly, the MSG
content in the snacks reported by PIRAC is far below the ADI.

The ADI for MSG was announced in the 1970s, but was scrapped
in 1987 by the Joint Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)-WHO
Expert Committee on Food Additives (JEFCA). Likewise, the
restriction imposed on babies under 12-weeks-old and pregnant
women has been lifted.

Contrary to what PIRAC has said in its release, the United
States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never issued any
warning against MSG. In fact, the USFDA has included MSG on its
Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) list.

In Indonesia, MSG consumption per capita per annum is below
one gram a day, quite similar to the level recorded in the U.S.

In October 1998, an international symposium on glutamate was
held in Bergamo, Italy. The proceedings of this conference can be
read in the official publication of the American Society for
Nutritional Sciences, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 130, No.
45.

At this symposium, the pharmacology department of the School
of Medicine of Gadjah Mada University presented the results of
its research titled The administration to Indonesians of MSG in
Indonesian Foods. The outcome of the symposium wiped out all
doubts about the safety of MSG as a food additive.

SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO
Jakarta