Ok, there’s a LOT of misinformation out there about MSG so let’s set out the fundamentals first:

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is just the sodium salt of glutamic acid. 

Glutamic acid is an amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It’s a “non-essential” nutrient for humans, meaning that it’s not essential to get the amino acid from foods because the human body can synthesise it internally (to be clear, non-essential does not mean unnecessary — glutamic acid is necessary). Therefore, glutamic acid is already naturally present in your body. That in turn means that its salts, including MSG, are naturally present in your body. 

As far as consuming glutamic acid is concerned, it can only be tasted when it’s present in its unbound, anionic free form, which is called glutamate (i.e. monosodium glutamate). Whereas glutamate bound in protein is not available until further breakdown by digestion or cooking. 

Significant amounts of glutamic acid (and in its glutamate form) are present in a wide variety of foods. These include marmite / vegemite, yeast extract, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cheeses (i.e. parmesan), human breast milk (yes, so if you were breast fed as a baby, you had loads of it), cow’s milk, green tea, cured ham, sardines, squid, scallops, mussels, tomatoes, peas, potatoes, spinach, celery, and meats like beef and chicken. It’s also in a huge variety of other foods.

MSG is therefore found in three forms outside the body: 

• Bound to proteins in foods, then becoming free form glutamate in the body
• Naturally free form glutamate in various foods
• Mass produced free form glutamate produced by natural bacterial fermentation in a process similar to making vinegar or yoghurt

Numerous regulatory bodies, including the USA’s Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority, have declared MSG safe for consumption. Of course, like table salt, too much of a good thing can potentially be a bad thing, and a small minority of people may indeed have sensitivity to a high intake of MSG (bearing in mind however that its already in our bodies and naturally occurring in a whole range of foods we all regularly consume). An association between MSG consumption and the various symptoms claimed to be triggered by its consumption has not been demonstrated under rigorously controlled conditions though.

The above information from the following Wikipedia pages, we just paraphrased and reordered key information to make things clearer:

• Umami
• Glutamate Flavoring
• Monosodium Glutamate

So, back to Pho + Family classes:

Yes, there’s naturally occurring MSG in various of the foods making up our class dishes.

Additionally, traditional recipes, particularly dishes like Pho, do tend to add some mass produced MSG. It’s just like adding some common table salt but the sodium level is lower and the MSG augments the umami flavour in a way that table salt can’t. Often bouillon is added to dishes like Pho too, which many people are unaware also usually contains added MSG. Certain condiments used, like Hoisin and Sriracha, often contain MSG too (it’s sometimes in their ingredients list as E621). Certain of Xuan’s recipes do use a very small amount of MSG in certain dishes, including the Pho.

That all said, if you’d like to avoid the added mass-produced MSG for any reason, we can usually accommodate that simply by not adding the mass-produced MSG or any bouillon. You’d also need to go “Hanoi-style” for the Pho and omit Hoisin and Sriracha. Bear in mind though that MSG in its naturally-occurring form will still be in certain of the foods and in your body already and so no added mass-produced MSG doesn’t mean no MSG — we just want to be clear about that so you don’t think that no added mass-produced MSG means no MSG at all.

If that’s your preference, be sure to contact us in advance of booking in accordance with our Allergy and Dietary Preferences Policy in our Cookery Class Terms to be sure we can accommodate you for your particular class.