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Monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as MSG, is a popular flavour enhancer with a complicated and controversial history.
MSG is the salt form of a common amino acid, glutamate. Glutamate is naturally occurring in many savoury foods such as tomatoes and cheese – and even the human body.
This salty additive is usually derived from fermented corn starch, sugar cane or cassava starch.
Restaurants will often promote they are MSG free, but this isn’t because it has been proven to be bad for you.
They are forced to do this to combat xenophobic and racist stigma impacting their businesses.
The number one suspect
The term ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’ was first coined in 1968 when Doctor Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote an op-ed to the New England Journal of Medicine.
He questioned why he invariably felt sick 20 minutes after eating food from northern China.
Common symptoms he reported were a racing heart, weakness and numbness, which he blamed on MSG.
This quickly escalated into global hysteria, despite his question not being a study or including any evidence.
The hysteria was heightened by racist and xenophobic headlines such as in the Chicago Tribune: Chinese Food Make You Crazy? MSG is Number One Suspect.
But does MSG cause any real concern for health?
U is for umami
MSG was first synthesised by Japanese food scientist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. Kikunae wanted an alternative to kelp-based dashi seasoning and derived the first MSG from kelp in his own lab.
He called this new flavour umami, which simply translated as tasty.
Recognising the utility of the chemical, he started a company called Ajinomoto to sell his new product.
Japanese imperialism soon facilitated the spread of MSG throughout East Asia, and it became common in all Asian food.
In the West, it was introduced in American TV dinners and cans of Campbell’s soup, which still contain MSG because it has far less sodium than typical additives.
Fake news
During the 1960s, several books were published that drew attention to the chemicals being used in commercially available food. The most famous was Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, which focused on pesticides and additives.
Following Dr Ho Man Kwok’s letter, several anecdotal responses echoed his perspective. In 1969, it came to a head when the chair of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health recommended MSG be banned from baby food.
Since then, literature research has criticised a number of questionable studies that seemed to support his hypothesis.
A 2000 study included 130 participants who reported adverse experiences with MSG in the past. They were given large doses of the additive, with and without food.
Some of the negative impacts were observed when given straight MSG but none were replicated, and there were no negative responses when the MSG was mixed with food.
The tasty reality
These days, the science appears to have softened on MSG. Another recent review of the relevant literature identified little correlation between MSG and essentially any negative health outcomes.
So, if you can’t be bothered cooking a proper dinner tonight, there’s probably nothing quite that bad about a cheap and delicious packet of supermarket ramen.
In moderation, of course.
