WWW.truthinlabeling.org -- Home page History of invention and
use of MSG MSG used as a food (drug, dietary supplement, and
cosmetic) additive The food additive monosodium glutamate was
first used in the United States in any quantity in the late
1940s. According to Dr. George Schwartz, author of "In Bad
Taste: The MSG Syndrome", although considerable effort had been
spent to introduce MSG to the USA, little had been accomplished
prior to World War II. However, sometime during the war, the use
of monosodium glutamate in Japanese soldiers' rations was
noticed, and in 1948, a symposium on monosodium glutamate
presided over by the Chief Quartermaster of the Armed Forces,
was held in Chicago to introduce monosodium glutamate to members
of the food industry. By the 1960s, Accent, the leading brand of
the flavor enhancer called monosodium glutamate, had become a
household word. Simultaneously, hydrolyzed protein products such
as autolyzed yeast, sodium caseinate, and hydrolyzed vegetable
protein gained in popularity.