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Disodium Guanylate(E627)

Level 4 — Significant concernsIn Winter's Dictionary3 sources

Disodium Guanylate is a flavor enhancer — Flavor intensifier more effective than sodium inosinate and glutamate

What it does

Flavor intensifier more effective than sodium inosinate and glutamate

Where you'll see it

Canned vegetables

What the research says

Persons with gout or uric acid kidney stones should limit dietary purine sources. [ultra-processed-people] Umami flavour enhancer formed from DNA breakdown in dying shiitake/mushroom cells. In UPF used to signal aged/fermented protein that the food doesn't actually contain — driving excess consumption via the mismatch-between-taste-and-nutrition mechanism. [salt-sugar-fat] Sister nucleotide to disodium inosinate; the two are almost always paired with MSG or yeast extract in savory snack seasonings to amplify umami beyond what any single ingredient can produce.

Regulatory status

  • EU: approved

Sources

  • Salt Sugar Fat (Moss) — Chapter 14 (Frito-Lay): Designer sodium and engineered seasonings that give boomers permission to snack
  • Ultra-Processed People (van Tulleken) — Chapter 13: UPF tastes odd: Guanylate is found mainly in dried shiitake and other mushrooms, forming from the breakdown of DNA in dying cells
  • A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives (Winter): Persons suffering from gout or uric acid kidney stones should limit their dietary sources of purines