FEBRUARY 202419THE PRO-FOOD SCIENCE MOVEMENTBY CHRISTOPHER KOETKE, CORPORATE EXECUTIVE CHEF, AJINOMOTO HEALTH & NUTRITION NORTH AMERICA, INC.Iam a big fan of science. As the corporate executive chef at Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition, I work with food scientists daily to fuse the culinary arts with ingredient formulation to achieve delicious tasting products without compromising on nutrition. I'm also the son of a physicist ­ I was raised to recognize that science consists of facts verified and proven through a time-tested tradition of experimentation, replicable data/results, and peer review. It is not about opinion, feeling, or belief system. However, The clean label trend sweeping the nation is fueled by marketers and retailers prioritizing opinion over proven science as a branding strategy. The problem with this is that it is often presented as science or combines opinion with some level of science to the detriment of our entire industry and our food system. Baseless claims are shaping the `no-no' lists of mainstream grocers and retailers in direct opposition to standards regulated by established institutions like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). So, who should consumers trust: their local grocery store's list of banned ingredients or the FDA?In Defense of Our Food SystemThe FDA has spent more than one hundred years taking action to safeguard our food supply from contaminated foods, outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, harmful additives, deceptive labeling, and more. According to a 2022 report from The Economist that measures the Global Food Security Index, the United States is ranked first for the food safety indicator. We officially have one of the safest food supplies in the world, thanks to scientists who diligently and painstakingly research, test, and collect data on every ingredient used in American food products. By contrast, a leading grocery chain makes the following statement before launching into a 260-ingredient-long list of `no-nos':We believe that the best ingredients belong on your plate. That's why we've banned hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup, and sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin -- along with more than 260 colors, preservatives, flavors, and other ingredients from all of the food we sell in our stores. We want you to feel confident about what goes in your cart. If it doesn't meet our standards, we won't sell it.A cursory look at the language tells us everything we need to know. They don't say, `read this peer-reviewed article from our team of expert food scientists and formulators on why we've banned x, y, and z.' They say, `We believe,'...' we want you to feel confident'...' It doesn't meet our standards.'Looking closely at this list, there are some products that the FDA has, in fact, banned. However, other ingredients are listed as perfectly safe by the FDA. This, ultimately, is not about science but about beliefs and feelings. They don't even bother to disclose the credentials of the people within their organization who are making the no-no list decisions. Yet, the people behind these claims explicitly tell consumers they know better than our nation's leading experts and scientists. In Defense of a Wrongfully Maligned IngredientWhile these `no-no' lists contain many wrongfully maligned ingredients, the decades-long campaign against monosodium glutamate (MSG) defies all reason. The only explanation, in fact, is rooted in xenophobia. Glutamate, the amino acid paired with sodium that comprises monosodium glutamate, is already present in every human being. In fact, it's the most abundant amino acid in the human body and is even produced naturally in breast milk. In the early 1900s, Dr. Kikunae Ikeda was the first to identify glutamic acid as the source of savory taste. He called this fifth taste umami and helped found Ajinomoto to develop monosodium glutamate, the essence of umami. MSG has Christopher KoetkeCXO INSIGHTS
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