Maggi Yang Sihat?

(sumber: http://www.maggi.com.my)

Maggi merupakan makanan ruji terutamanya bagi pelajar di asrama ataupun mereka yang masih bujang (lelaki). Antara sebabnya adalah, ianya mudah dimasak, harganya murah, boleh disimpan lama dan yang paling penting, bagi tujuan kecemasan jika kebuluran di tengah malam.

Tetapi masalahnya, adakah anda sedar bahawa maggi tidak baik untuk kesihatan? 

Saya mengaku bahawa saya juga sering menjamah sajian tersebut terutamanya pada waktu malam, ketika sibuk bekerja dan ketika malas untuk keluar membeli makanan. 

Kebetulan semalam stok maggi saya telah habis dan saya mengambil keputusan untuk membelinya dari sebuah pasaraya terkenal (nama dirahsiakan kerana tidak mahu memberikan promosi percuma. haha). Semasa berada di rak di mana maggi dan jenama lain mee segera yang lain dipamerkan, saya berasa hairan mengapa maggi memiliki harga-harga yang berlainan bagi maggi perisa kari. Maggi yang biasa saya beli berharga RM3.99 dan satu lagi berharga RM4.50. 

Jadi saya membelik-belik maggi yang dinamakan "TastyLite" dan tertarik dengan 3 points yang tertera di sebelah kanan bawah paket maggi tersebut.

• Taste Great
  
• Less Than 3g Fat per Serving
  
• No Added MSG
  

(sumber: http://www.nestle.com.my)

Persoalan yang bermain-main difikiran saya ketika itu adalah, apakah maksudnya dengan perkataan MSG?

Menurut Wikipedia, definasi bagi MSG adalah: -

Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate and MSG, is a sodium salt of the non-essential amino acid glutamic acid. It is used as a food additive and is commonly marketed as a flavour enhancer. It has the HS code 29224220 and the E number E621. Trade names of monosodium glutamate include Ajinomoto, Vetsin, and Accent.

Faham? Saya pun sebenarnya kurang faham (kimia kurang hebat). Senang cerita, ianya perisa tambahan dalam makanan anda bagi menjadikannya lebih sedap.

Dari segi isu kesihatan pula: -

Monosodium glutamate as a food ingredient is the subject of a health concern controversy.

United States
Monosodium glutamate is one of several forms of free glutamate used in foods. Free glutamate can also be present in a wide variety of other additives, including hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy extracts, and protein isolate, any one of which may appear as "spices" or "natural flavorings." The food additives disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are usually used along with with monosodium glutamate-containing ingredients, and provide a likely indicator of the presence of monosodium glutamate in a product. For this reason, the FDA considers labels such as "No MSG" or "No Added MSG" to be misleading if the food contains ingredients that are sources of free glutamate, such as hydrolyzed protein.

In 1993, FDA proposed adding the phrase "(contains glutamate)" to the common or usual names of certain protein hydrolysates that contain substantial amounts of glutamate.For example, if the proposal were adopted, hydrolyzed soy protein would have to be declared on food labels as "hydrolyzed soy protein (contains glutamate)."

Asia
The INTERMAP Cooperative Research Group conducted a study of 752 healthy Chinese (48.7% women), aged 40-59 years, randomly sampled from three rural villages in north and south China and determined that MSG intake may be positively related to increased BMI (Body Mass Index)

Australia and New Zealand
Standard 1.2.4 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code requires the presence of MSG as a food additive to be labeled. The label must bear the food additive class name (e.g. flavour enhancer), followed by either the name of the food additive (e.g. MSG) or its International Numbering System (INS) number (e.g. 621).

Berbalik kepada eksperimentasi saya tadi, berbanding dengan maggi yang biasa saya beli, mee bagi maggi TastyLite agak lambat kembang dan kenyal apabila dimasak. Biasanya jika saya memasak maggi biasa, mee akan diletakkan paling akhir sekali kerana saya kurang gemar mee yang kembang kerana rasanya kurang sedap. Selain itu, rasanya juga agak berlainan sedikit mungkin kerana perencahnya tiada kandungan MSG.

Kesimpulannya, jika anda mahukan maggi yang sihat, belilah maggi TastyLite.