MSG Isn't Bad For You, According to Science

Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda had an obsession. A flavor he couldn’t quite put his finger on kept showing up in his meals, whether he was eating cheeses and tomatoes in Germany or dashi, a broth he knew from home. After several years of investigating the savory quality, Ikeda proposed in 1909 that the sensation was a fifth taste — one he dubbed “umami.”