Ve Wong MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)

100 gram box - Taiwan since 1959 - made in Thailand

Ve Wong (King of Flavor) is a Taiwanese company with a genuinely fascinating origin story. 

Founded in April 1959 as China Fermentation Industrial Co., Ltd., they started with the production of MSG and entered into technical cooperation with a Japanese company, adopting the fermentation technology from the very start. 

Ve Wong was there from the very beginning of the fermentation era, just as the industry was shifting from chemical hydrolysis of proteins to bacterial fermentation of sugarcane and similar crops — a process much like the way cheese, yogurt, and wine are produced.

Today Ve Wong operates MSG production facilities in Taiwan with the smaller pack sizes sold internationally which are produced in a Ve Wong-owned factory in Thailand.

Ve Wong's MSG is made by fermenting cane molasses and tapioca starch — both abundant in Thailand — using Corynebacterium bacteria that consume those sugars and excrete glutamic acid as a byproduct. 

After 30–40 hours of fermentation, the glutamic acid concentration in the broth reaches 100–150g/L. The liquid is then heated to denature the bacterial cells, centrifuged to remove residues, acidified to crystallize the glutamate out of solution, neutralized with sodium to produce monosodium glutamate, and dried into the familiar white crystals.

The process is essentially identical to making vinegar or yogurt. Which is exactly why the FDA places MSG in the same ‘Generally Recognized As Safe’ (GRAS)category as salt, pepper, vinegar, and baking powder. Not a drug. Not a chemical additive requiring special review. A common pantry ingredient, by official regulatory definition.

The end result is indistinguishable — chemically and biologically — from the glutamate in your Parmigiano-Reggiano or your tomatoes.

Ve Wong figured out how to get bacteria to do in 40 hours what a tomato plant does all summer.