Specific growth rate was controlled for the repression of acetic acid formation in the fed-batch fermentation of recombinant Escherichia coli. With controlled specific growth rate, we studied the effect of the specific growth rate on cell growth, glucose consumption, acetic acid formation, and the expression of recombinant protein (${eta}$-lactamase). High specific growth rate caused the accumulation of glucose and acetic acid, and lowered the production of recombinant protein. However, the addition of methionine recovered the gene expression by alleviating the negative effect of acetic acid at high specific growth rate.