Sep 3, 2020
It is all about ‘Monosodium Glutamate'(MSG), considered as the ‘Essence of Taste’.
AJI-NO-MOTO® [MSG] is the product name of ‘Monosodium Glutamate’ which delivers the highest quality of taste enhancement and contributes to significant advances in nutrition and health, creating a better life for all.
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. is a Japanese food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners and amino acids.
AJI-NO-MOTO® is the trade name for the company’s original Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) product. The corporation’s head office is located in Chūō, Tokyo. As of 2019, AJI-NO-MOTO® operates in 35 countries and employs an estimate of 35,000 people. Monosodium Glutamate is called Ajinomoto in Japan and China. Ajinomoto is a company name but that product is now called ajinomoto as they are the first one to find this MSG Umami, the fifth flavour.
San-mi (sourness), kan-mi (sweetness), en-mi (saltiness), niga-mi (bitterness), and uma-mi is the fifth taste.
The first umami found was in 1908 as glutamic acid, glutamate from kombu kelp. Glutamate is normally contained in vegetables (kelp, green tea leaf, tomato, broccoli etc…), and other umami inosinic acid is contained in animals (such as bonito, mackerel, and meat). Guanylic acid is contained in shiitake mushroom.
So to bring out the fifth flavour in the food, Ajinomoto made a condiment to add more flavour to the food. Ajinomoto monosodium glutamate is a mix of these umami acids. The main element of Ajinomoto monosodium glutamate is glutamic acid, glutamate. They are made from sugarcane. They get fermented just like miso and soy sauce.
Ajinomoto monosodium glutamate itself is not bad for your body. MSG have 1/3rd of Sodium compared to normal salt(Nacl). So if we use a pinch of MSG we can almost reduce the usage of salt or sodium almost by 36 percent, leading to reduction in salt intake.
In a country like India, where Blood pressure and hypertension is a big health issue, MSG provides a good substitute to reduce salt intake.
Many researches have shown, taking a normal amount of monosodium glutamate doesn’t cause any health problems. Ajinomoto is treated as salt and vinegar. Unlike common belief, Ajinomoto is not an ingredient itself, but is a Food and Chemical corporation based in Japan that uses its name as a trademark for its original product Monosodium Glutamate. It is a salt widely used in Chinese cuisine to enhance flavors, hence popularly called the ‘flavor enhancer.’ Also known as MSG, its use is rather controversial in nature.
Caution
MSG is sodium based salt, hence consumers keeping a check on their salt intake must plan the dose of salt consumption, though it has been proved that MSG helps to decrease salt intake. Some people have reported complaints of allergic reactions on taking MSG. Although the reactions are mild and do not require treatment, it is best to check with the doctors for the reason for the allergies.
Ajinomoto India Private Limited is a manufacturer of high-quality seasonings and processed foods affiliating with the Ajinomoto Group. Founded in 2003 and now operating from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Ajinomoto India Private Limited aims to contribute to food culture in the country and positively impact the health of its consumers. This is done through employing innovative amino acid technologies.
Ajinomoto Group, the parent company, is based out of Japan and is a global manufacturer of high-quality seasonings, processed foods, beverages, amino acids, pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals. Founded in 1909 and now operating in 27 countries and regions, Ajinomoto Group has contributed to food culture and human health through wide-ranging application of amino acid technologies.
Ajinomoto Group is the inventor of AJI-NO-MOTO® [MSG] which is made from 100 percent natural ingredients such as sugarcane, corn, wheat, rice, cassava (Tapioca) and sugar beet.
Mithai & Namkeen Times had an opportunity to conduct an interview with
Govinda Biswas, the Marketing Head of Aji-no-motoIndia.
The excerpts follow:
“First of all, my greetings to the Mithai & Namkeen Times magazine to give me an opportunity and I am happy to speak to the audience through this magazine and share some good and healthy information about Ajinomoto.
Basically, AJI-NO-MOTO® is related to all the food and delicacies. From the word ‘Essence of Taste’ we derived the word ‘Ajinomoto’ and MSG is the Sodium salt of Monosodium Glutamate. To add specifically, sodium is the essential mineral and Glutamate is the amino acid. It is readily available in nature in the form of tomatoes, yoghurt, mushrooms, etc. Thus Ajinomoto is vegetarian in nature. The packets contain labels mentioning the raw materials used in manufacturing the salt. We use sugarcane and tapioca for the production of MSG.
The process of making MSG involves fermentation. For e.g. we make curds from milk, in the same way we make molasses from sugarcane and add fermenting microbes to it for breaking the enzymes into glutamate. That glutamate is further purified and crystallized to form Monosodium Glutamate. If you see the overall production process, it is vegetarian in nature and sourced naturally from the point of view of production as well as fermentation processes. Hence there is nothing artificial added to it nor any chemicals infused into it. From a production point of view, it’s absolutely safe.
The important and critical point related to the rumour associated with the manufacturing of the AJI-NO-MOTO® [MSG] in India, is that, FSSAI has done a thorough and systematic research and only then has given us the certification. Not only in India, but if you surf the internet you will draw a very fruitful knowledge that even the Food & Drug Authorities(FDA) of US has declared the usage of MSG safe and is Kosher certified.
The Halal Certification:
The total production of MSG is done in Thailand which is prepared from sugarcane and tapioca, thus has a vegetarian source.Nearly 64,000 metric tons of MSG is produced in that plantwhich is certified by Halal Board of Thailand and exported to all 9 Asian countries.
Why not produce in India?
Thailand has been chosen as main production unit is because fermentation of MSG requires uninterrupted and constantly supply of water and the factory is aptly situated near water reservoir. Also, sugarcane and tapioca (which is sweet) are cultivated on a very largescale and is available in abundance.
Labour is not cheap like India, but the total cost of production covers these issue easily. Therefore for all the 9 Asian countries we are producing MSG from there and exporting from Thailand itself. We have factory at Mahavalipuram,Tamil Nadu, where major focus is given to the production for local products like Happy Ma Fried Rice Seasoning, Crispy Fries seasoning, pre-mix tea and coffee. All these products are produced here and only AJI-NO-MOTO ® MSG is imported from Thailand. The availability port is Chennai, making import easier compared to other ports. These are the reason why we opted Thailand as our base of production.
In future we might consider India as our manufacturing unit of our MSG. This expansion is based on the market analysis if it shows sign of gaining momentum then we will put up the production facility here too. We have around 5 acres of land and only 2and half acres of the land is used in production of other products and rest is kept as reserved land for future expansion.
How is Ajinomoto ® different from other MSG present in the market?
We started operation in India 15 years back. Indian market is about 2500 to 3000 mts. Out of total market, 90 percent market is captured by imported and contaminated MSG which is of very low quality. Only 10 percent of MSG is organic market, the only space for us to play around. Hence, overall volume of Indian market is very low for the organic section.
To elaborate, we collected the samples from local market as well as competitors’ product. The 90% of MSG in the market is of low quality and remaining 4-5% is from organized MSG manufacturers. Along with these samples, we submitted our MSG for test labs. In the test report the MSG’s are graded like A, B etc.., andwhat we found in the independent lab reports of some Chinese products in the market is,the impurities stated in the reports goes beyond 20-27%. Even organized brands have impurities which goes to 10%. But our reports indicate 99.9% pure with only 0.1% difference and that too is the moisture absorbed during the fermentation process. Apart from this there is no impurities at all.
Primarily, MSG has two types of crystal, one is rice-grain and another comes in granulated form like salt or sugar. If granulated MSG is contaminated with powdered salt or anything similar, then it is almost impossible to decipher the purity.
Unfortunately, what some traders do is, they combine common salt and MSG, for e.g. in 100 grams of MSG, 20 grams is common salt added to the mixture of 80 grams of Ajinomoto and grind them so fine that is practically impossible to separate them or identify the pure MSG from the salt. And this contaminated MSG is sold in the market at a much cheaper rates. One cannot identify the impurities until and unless you give them to test labs where a chemical composition test is conducted and identification is made possible. The texture and taste cannot be differentiated from each other. Only through the crystallization process in the lab can we conclude the results of purity.
Your reach in consumer category:
We have our distributors in Mumbai, who cater AJI-NO-MOTO® to the HoReCa and industrial sectors which is actually our main businessand our products are not for retail sales. Prior to lockdown, we had plans to start the retail business too, but situation of the economy has forced us to hold back till further notice from authorities. To cater to the individual consumers we are retailing our AJI-NO-MOTO® MSG and other products through Amazon online platform. We have distribution centers all over India and orders can be delivered pan India.
Adding further to the corporate business, our discussions are going on with distributors and JIOMART for online and by next two months hopefully, we will be able to spread our wings to retail supermarkets for on-shelf shopping. For ground sales distribution, we are already in talks with our same stockist/distributor and if the situation improves we shall start the sales immediately.
Uses of Aji-no-moto® in different cuisines :-
AJI-NO-MOTO® MSG can be used in a wide range of delicious dishes in order to enhance the taste of the dish. It can be used in practically everything except bitter dishes andmilk items. Because the umami taste of MSG combines well with any salty, spicy, sour dishes and enhances the overall taste of the dish and makes it tasty. It can be used for any Indian & Chinese menus.
Benefits of MSG in food products:
By using a pinch of MSG, we can significantly reduce the usage of the Salt almost up to by 36%.
At the same time we can maintain the taste of the dish without compromising the deliciousness of the dish.
In a country like India, where the case of blood pressure & hypertension is continuously growing, MSG can be handy food ingredients to reduce the usage of salt in food.
If observed closely, the older people tend to lose their appetite and taste with advancing age factor. Research has shown that by using a pinch of MSG in their regular diet, the acceptance for the food taste increases and also significant improvement in appetite is also observed in older age group people. It is because of the presence of glutamic acid, the taste of the dish increases.
Use of MSG in any food menu, increases the taste of the dish and it enhances the sense of satisfaction quickly in human beings. As a result it ultimately helps human beings to avoid over-eating and also helps to avoid excessive calorie intake. It is a scientifically proven fact.
Changing perception to positivity:
Changing the perception of AJI-NO-MOTO® MSG to positivity is very important and challenging from the market point of view because in India there is lot of negativity regarding the product which is not based on scientific facts. To speak factually, we started market study some 5 years back to find out the total number of consumers’ awareness, what is the percentage of consumers having positive, negative and neutral perception. What we concluded in our research was, almost 100 per cent awareness was present amongst the consumers about MSG, and out of that 90-93 percent had negative perception about MSG.
On that particular reaction of negativity, we decided that we have to breakdown this negativity towards MSG. We decided that even though we will not be doing any promotion or advertisement for the Ajinomoto, we will tackle the negative perception through public relation activity and other media platform. Basically our objective is to communicate scientific facts with evidence to all the key stakeholders like Dieticians, Nutritionists, HoReCa sector and key journalists also.
The internet is full of ajinomoto content but majority holds negative impact on MSG. We decided to put our full efforts to communicate the facts and evidence and let the consumer decide for himself. So our mission is to reduce the negative perception and bring the consumers to neutral perception and gradually maneuver them to have a positive perception.
Since last 5 years we are continuously conducting year-on-year 3 to 4 MSG Safety Seminar by calling all the dietitians, nutritionists and now we are doing cooking competition for housewives and creating a lot of YouTube cooking recipe videos with Celebrity Chefs. We are also conducting Chef Seminars to educate the mass for Safety part of MSG. As a result of this multiple efforts, we are conducting factory visit programs for the journalists where they can come and visit the factory. They are even permitted to touch and see the raw materials used. To believe me and my words, a visit to the manufacturing plant becomes a must. We invite the journalists to witness the fermentation procedure, what is the overall production like, and how we are maintaining the transparent approach to bring home the actual experience of our manufacturing system.
Then with persistent efforts of last five years, the negative perception which earlier was 90-93 % has decreased to 60-63 % .Thus we were successful in reducing the negative picture by almost 30 percent.
The fruits of the efforts cannot be seen overnight, and we are progressing towards our target slowly but with surety.