Chicken Bouillon vs. MSG: What’s the Difference?
MSG is one of the most famous tastemakers. It can be added to almost any cooking to enhance the dish’s taste, and Chicken bouillon is also similar to MSG in terms of function. While the two can have different properties, they are often confused. In this article, we also learn how these products differ.
Chicken Bouillon vs. MSG
Monosodium glutamate or msg is a very popular flavor-enhancing food that was accidentally discovered by a Japanese chemist who got it from seaweed at first. MSG contains a chemical known as sodium glutamate which has a flavor that is out of sight this is why msg is cherished by food enhancers. In addition, it is easily soluble in water, thus increasing the chances of the seasoning to dissolve in food evenly when cooking. As a result, the quality of the additive for flavor enhancement made the product famous throughout Japan and quickly adopted the brand name ‘Ajinomoto’ which means ‘the essence of taste’ before conquering the world.
Msg is present in most of the different cuisines that are consumed today and is obtained through the process of fermentation of other products such as corn, rice, grains, and sweet potatoes. Msg ingredients consist of sodium and glutamate only.
Chicken bouillon, known also as chicken flavoring powder is another very popular flavor-enhancing food additive or a compound seasoning powder that contains a bunch of ingredients. While msg powder has sodium and glutamate as the only components, chicken bouillon powder has chicken meat, eggs, enzymatically hydrolyzed chicken bone and meat, and concentrated chicken bone extract.
Besides these basic components, there are additional flavor boosters like salt, monosodium glutamate, nucleotides, carriers, flavoring agents, and aromatic enhancers that enhance chicken bouillon seasoning. All these ingredients are mixed together and go through manufacturing processes such as blending, granules formation, and drying in the production of the end product.
Due to the use of msg as one of the chicken bouillon ingredients, this seasoning is referred to as the improved or advanced msg.
This is because the seasoning contains nucleotides, spices, salt and other flavor enhancers Its name chicken bouillon comes from the nucleotides that give it a rich chicken broth taste although it does not contain chicken. All the same, because it is made of a myriad of ingredients, chicken bouillon is believed to be superior to msg when it comes to enhancing the taste of foods.
Both msg and chicken bouillon act as an umami component for any food they are added to, enhancing the salty taste of foods to a great extent. However, msg in cooking only adds some degree of taste to the food it is used on, making chicken bouillon taste far better.
This is because msg is only sodium glutamate, whereas powdered chicken bouillon consists of msg plus a whole bunch of ingredients including flavor enhancements and aroma-boosting additives. But this also proves that msg is a more natural base than bouillon de poulet and provides an actual umami taste which is not in bouillon where it’s combined with a lot of other elements that enhance taste together. Hence, many people also consider it better than bouillon chicken seasoning particularly when used as a flavor booster.
This means that if they are exposed to higher temperatures (in this case 120 degrees C), msg and chicken bouillon seasonings, become tasteless, and it’s difficult to perceive umami flavor. This is because, at such high levels, sodium glutamate dehydrates and cyclizes to form essentially non-flavored sodium pyroglutamate.
Since msg is used to boost the flavor of chicken bouillon as well, this product also loses its umami flavor upon exposure to excessive heat. As such, it is recommended to only add either of these seasonings to food right before finishing up the cooking process.
Chicken Bouillon Powder Contains About 40% MSG
While chicken bouillon from its name suggests that chicken is the primary ingredient in the seasoning, and the product packaging from several sellers also mentions ‘made from a premium fat chicken’ or ‘made from real premium chicken meat’, its major ingredient is msg. Chicken seasoning powder is therefore not a natural seasoning product that contains chicken meat, bones, or extracts as its primary ingredient. However, it uses msg, salt and artificial flavoring, flavor boosters and aroma boosters as its two main raw materials.
It contributes 40% of the total ingredients and constitutes the primary ingredient of other chicken bouillon powder and other products of chicken bouillon substitutes which has a special taste that has made it popular. Besides, sugar, chicken meat and bone powder, spices, starch, inosine acid, guanylic acid, chicken flavor and other compounds make up part of this seasoning. However, the special taste in the seasoning is brought by either the msg crystals or powder used in it.
The inosine and guanylic acids which also constitute a very important part of the chicken seasoning powder also affect the flavour of the seasoning. Together with the msg or sodium glutamate in msg, they reduced the umami taste of the chicken seasoning powder to an even more subtle and fragrant flavor profile, and at the same time gave the seasoning a much better and richer mouthfeel.
However, the controversies of the actual use of chickens are not entirely misleading. The chicken flavor in these seasonings is typically authentic and comes from the use of actual chicken meat or bones. Chicken bouillon no msg would however lessen the flavor contribution of the seasoning in foods because while the msg is used to boost the chicken flavor, the starch is used to control the texture of the seasoning to make it properly grainy or powder-like.
Nutritional Content Varies
On the question of which is more nutritious, chicken bouillon or msg, there needs to be an assessment of the ingredients to determine which has more nutrients.
In general, msg, since it is typically only extracted from grains by using a microbial fermentation process, contains a key type of amino acid and a major component of proteins- sodium glutamate. However, the chicken powder is made from the following ingredients such as-msg, thus each of them gives the seasoning a nutritional balance. Apart from sodium glutamate, this seasoning has several vitamins and minerals added to it.
Msg continues to have an important role in the provision of amino acids required in the body hence it is an important component in food that enhances the proper functioning of the brain. Additionally, the umami taste helps in boosting appetite while the msg aids in enhancing the digestion rate of food. Besides, it can be used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis, hepatic coma, neurasthenia, epilepsy, gastric acid insufficiency, etc.
In actuality, chicken bouillon is more beneficial than ordinary bouillon since includes vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other agents and compounds. Moreover, the seasoning contains nucleotides that help in boosting the umami level in chicken powder. As such, it commonly includes 1.5 to 2 times higher umami level than msg, adding a further plus to your health. However, it should be noted that said improvements are accomplished through the enhancement of chicken bouillon or seasoning powder. They are just a flavor-boosting seasoning and are not a replacement for chicken meat for their valuable nutrient content.
The Safety of Chicken Bouillon is Similar to MSG
Some of the health issues that have been associated with MSG include carcinogenic. There is however, an opinion from the World Health Organisation WHO and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation UN FAO which insists that under normal circumstances, MSG when taken in normal doses, is completely safe. It is pertinent to add that the product should not be heated to temperatures that go up to 120 degrees C since it results in the production of carcinogenic compounds.
As for safety, chicken seasoning has the same safety as msg since this ingredient is one of the components of this seasoning. It means that special precautions have to be taken while cooking with it as well. Apart from msg, between 10% to 20% of the chicken seasoning is salt therefore its use has also to be controlled, while using this, the addition of salt must also be controlled by users. Also, nucleotides are used in chicken seasoning and the metabolic by-product used in this seasoning is uric acid, so there should be restricted consumption of products that contain it.
The Usage Amount of Chicken Bouillon
MSG in water again dissolves readily and is a purer product of seasoning, which is why it is more stable for consumption. Thus, even adding a small amount of it, when the food is nearly ready to rise also helps it to dissolve and give the right umami taste.
Chicken bouillon on the other hand has much fewer requirements and can be added at any time while cooking, although because of the msg content in some brands, it should also be added at the later stages of the cooking process to prevent the loss of its potency.
These seasonings must be taken in moderation by adolescents as per the findings of the EFSA which formulates that the dosage must not cross 30 milligrams for every kg of the body weight to avoid reactions such as headaches, high blood pressure, and increased levels of insulin. Since the foods that are abundantly consumed by adolescents are processed foods, their consumption mustn’t exceed the recommended level. The intake of Iodised salt is however more appropriate to be regulated in the same way as the normal consumption of salt is regulated.
To learn more about chicken bouillon and MSG, please contact us, Mondstar-a professional food additives supplier to give you more insights.
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