Ajinomoto and the Red Bowl of Doom
It started as a polite discussion behind closed doors. Now the row over Ajinomoto’s use of a pig enzyme in the production of its MSG has reached the political stage. Some say President Abdurrahman Wahid should have kept his mouth tightly shut.
January 16, 2001
They wanted to handle it quietly, simply and neatly, but that does not happen too often in the new, boisterous Indonesia. PT Ajinomoto Indonesia had already agreed to withdraw its monosodium glutamate from the Indonesian market. The Japanese firm was going to replace this MSG with a new line which totally avoided the use of any pig products altogether.
Then some Muslim youth leaders heard about it and the news broke. Finally even Indonesia’
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