Background on the Food Safety Process

Before a food ingredient is deemed safe for consumption, it must pass a comprehensive food safety evaluation. As part of this system, representatives from the global biomedical community conduct research, collect information and evaluate clinical data. This information allows regulatory agencies around the world to make learned judgments regarding the safety and use of ingredients, such as MSG, in foods. Additives are evaluated with highly scientific procedures that cover such areas as toxicity, carcinogenicity, reproduction, absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, etc.

To keep the U.S. food supply the safest in the world, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established a system by which food additives are reviewed. The FDA has put MSG on its GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) list, along with other common food ingredients, such as salt, pepper and sugar.

In its 1995 report commissioned by the FDA, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) reaffirmed previous safety conclusions on MSG. FASEB found no evidence linking MSG to any serious or long-term effects, which led FDA to conclude that MSG is a safe food ingredient at normally consumed levels.

The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is one of the most authoritative international scientific bodies and serves as the scientific advisory body on food additives to the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In its evaluation of MSG, JECFA assigned an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) to MSG of "not specified" (no numerical limitation), the committee's most favorable classification for food additives.

According to a report in May 1987 by the Institute of Food Technologists' Expert Panel on Food Safety and Nutrition, a professional association of food scientists and food technologists whose purpose is research and education about our food supply, MSG remains "a safe, efficacious flavor enhancer for the vast majority of the population."

The January 1990 Mayo Clinic Nutrition Letter was clear in its analysis: "MSG is one of the most heavily investigated of all food substances. The scientific consensus: MSG is safe for the vast majority of people."

Additionally, the University of California's Berkeley Wellness Letter states: "Adverse reactions to MSG---a largely mythical allergy known as Chinese Restaurant Syndrom---are extremely rare." (October 1989). "The vast majority of us don't need to worry about the amounts of MSG or free glutamate we may encounter in foods." (June 1996)

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