e621 Monosodium Glutamate

Food additive with flavor enhancing function.
It is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. For industrial use, it is obtained by bacterial fermentation of molasses. Monosodium glutamate is used to accentuate the flavor and taste of natural foods. Glutamates give the “umami” taste (delicious in Japanese), considered to be the fifth basic taste, along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter. They can be added in any food, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in proportions of up to 1%, thus allowing the required amount of salt to be reduced. A proportion higher than 1% cannot accentuate the taste furthermore, but can distort it. Some studies have shown that glutamates have a neurotoxic potential in children and even in adults, while other studies didn’t. However, the neurotoxic potential is real, because glutamate (like aspartate from aspartame) is a neurotransmitter and the brain’s cerebral blood barrier, which protects the brain from toxins and excess neurotransmitters is underdeveloped in children and in adults it may not protect all cerebral areas or it may be deteriorated. Thus, glutamate is transformed in a so-called excitotoxin, which excessively stimulates the neurons, destroying them.