The BBC has an article by Chris Baraniuk about addictive foods:
Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and oh, yes, umami. It’s the somewhat ineffable savory flavor that makes certain foods so moreish. It was first proposed as one of the basic tastes by a Japanese chemist named Kikunae Ikeda, who realized that the seaweed broth he loved was so tasty, in part because it had a pseudo-meaty quality. After some analysis of his dinner one day, he realized that it contained glutamate crystals responsible for this flavor. A stable form of the same chemical, monosodium glutamate, better known as MSG, was soon patented, branded as Ajinomoto, and used in food products all over the world.
In the year 2000, scientists discovered that humans have a specific taste receptor for that umami flavor, which helps to explain the popularity of MSG. Cheese, bacon, and chips with ketchup also contain natural forms of glutamate that trigger the umami receptor, explaining why we often crave these super savory foods.
Watch the video below to understand why we are born to love these foods and the truth about the risks of eating too much MSG:
Rico says you can add sugar to the list, but Ajinomoto gives him the shits...
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