Support NeoGAF

[Trojita]

Monosodium Glutamate. It's naturally occurring in foods we eat like tomatoes, potatoes, and mushrooms. It was crystallized into an easily applied substance.

It's gotten a bad rap that doesn't seem quite deserved. There was a "fear" that it was causing people to get sick, but it is literally just crystalized glutamate, there isn't much to it. One of the only problems with it is how great it works as long as their is an aroma base to add it. Lousy cook or using subpar ingredients? Sprinkle that shit on! People reporting getting sick or being allergic to MSG could have been fed subpar to potentially spoiled ingredients, ate too much rice (in the case of Chinese food) and the rice mixed with water causing their stomach's to expand and make them sick (I call this The Sushi Buffet Punishment Period), or been full of shit hypochondriacs or at worst charlatans.

Asian countries still use it, you'll find it right on that yellow mayonnaise Japan uses. The US has leaned more on Glutamic Acid, which you will see listed as "Natural Flavors" on an ingredient list. The MSG stigma in the US still persists. Some American-Chinese restaurants will specifically state they don't use MSG.

 

[Jebusman]

I knew someone in high school who was "allergic" to MSG. To this day I don't know if that was really legit, or if he just got the idea and decided to self proclaim MSG as the culprit, because I've never met or seen anyone else who was.

 

[Sdkkds]

Yay all the way, or at least in moderation as it is a salt. People should watch some of David Changs talks on MSG.

 

[dsp]

I don't care either way.

 

[ldcommando]

Yes

 

[balladofwindfishes]

It makes savory food taste good and doesn't really have any health benefit beyond what salt has.

 

[Quick]

Food has changed.

 

[Aylinato]

I knew someone in high school who was "allergic" to MSG. To this day I don't know if that was really legit, or if he just got the idea and decided to self proclaim MSG as the culprit, because I've never met or seen anyone else who was.

It's a legit allergy

 

[ColdPizza]

yeah, screw the haters

 

[Downhome]

It's absolutely legit. I have to stay away from it or I get violently ill. If I eat stuff with just a little of it I'm ok, but when it has tons I am sick for days. Certain Chinese buffets, certain frozen meals, things like that. Another really bad one is the seasoning on the Zaxbys fries. I'm not sure what all is in it, or how much MSG, but that makes me worse off than anything else. It's awful.

 

[lsslave]

A few years ago didn't they do a bunch of reports on how most MSG 'allergies' are made up and it was the definitive answer?

I think it's like the current batch of Gluten allergies.

If you want to be sick you'll get sick. Just so you can feel special. But the amount of people who are 'allergic' to Gluten who still eat bread blow me away.

I've had chinese food with MSG, crushed chinese food without MSG. So good.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Don't know and don't really care. I only pay attention to calories. I don't have any other dietary restrictions.

 

[entremet]

I'm not allergic so sure. Yes.

 

[SecretMoblin]

msg is cute

and as far as I know the scientists haven't yet been able to nail down any sort of definitive proof of danger in normal quantities. Chinese food making someone ill is probably not due to the MSG.

 

[SolidusDave]

It's a legit allergy

Nah.
That's like being allergic against sweet things.


MSG is the crystallized form of an amino acid. i.e. most of your own proteins (and the ones you eat) are in part made out of it. I would think someone with a legit allergy won't live very long...

Your whole umami sense of taste is based on that one amino acid, though only the unbound form (like added MSG or naturally e.g. in cheese, many types of seafood, broths etc.)

 

[narcosis219]

It's absolutely legit. I have to stay away from it or I get violently ill. If I eat stuff with just a little of it I'm ok, but when it has tons I am sick for days. Certain Chinese buffets, certain frozen meals, things like that. Another really bad one is the seasoning on the Zaxbys fries. I'm not sure what all is in it, or how much MSG, but that makes me worse off than anything else. It's awful.

Do you get sick when you eat unprocessed:

Tomatoes
Peas
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Potatoes
Walnuts
Eggs
Fish
Beef

Because all those have MSG in them. Not added MSG, just naturally occurring.

I'm sure you have your symptoms when you do eat foods you believe have MSG, but perhaps that may come from the amount of sodium in the food rather than MSG. Have you tried drinking more water around those foods? You might find it helps.

 

[xDUMPWEEDx]

Don't know and don't really care. I only pay attention to calories. I don't have any other dietary restrictions.

Same. There are much bigger issues out there when it comes to food than worrying about MSG.

 

[Erheller]

http://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/foodadditivesingredients/ucm328728.htm

Is MSG safe to eat?

FDA considers the addition of MSG to foods to be “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS). Although many people identify themselves as sensitive to MSG, in studies with such individuals given MSG or a placebo, scientists have not been able to consistently trigger reactions.

Has FDA received any adverse event reports associated with MSG?

Over the years, FDA has received reports of symptoms such as headache and nausea after eating foods containing MSG. However, we were never able to confirm that the MSG caused the reported effects.

These adverse event reports helped trigger FDA to ask the independent scientific group Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) to examine the safety of MSG in the 1990s. FASEB’s report concluded that MSG is safe. The FASEB report identified some short-term, transient, and generally mild symptoms, such as headache, numbness, flushing, tingling, palpitations, and drowsiness that may occur in some sensitive individuals who consume 3 grams or more of MSG without food. However, a typical serving of a food with added MSG contains less than 0.5 grams of MSG. Consuming more than 3 grams of MSG without food at one time is unlikely.

 

[Ferrio]

Last generation's gluten. Love the stuff.

 

[nukedeggs]

Abso-fucking-lutely. MSG is my homeboy. I attribute all my current success to my steady diet of MSG. Indeed it would not be an overstatement to say that I would not be the same person had I not been treated with MSG in my youth.

No but seriously I love the stuff.

 

[clav]

Yay.

Stigma rises from that MSG is from a foreign country and pseudosicence.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-flawed-science-and-xenophobia/

 

[Waldo Lydecker]

MSG = E621?

If so get that shit out of my sight! I once suffered multiple heavy migraines with aura a week. I started a elimination diet and once I stopped using gravy on a powder basis with E621 the migraine decreased to once in a three month period.

Not kidding, E621 is neurotoxic poison.

 

[Blackthorn]

IIRC, didn't the fear surrounding MSG arise from post war anti-Asian sentiment?

Edit: Yup!

Yay.

Stigma rises from that MSG is from a foreign country and pseudosicence.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-flawed-science-and-xenophobia/

 

[jmdajr]

All the stuff about MSG is all bullshit. Use it if you want.

A whole bunch of other shit is what's really killing you.

 

[DeadRockstar]

Personally no. It's difficult to determine individual susceptibility to glutamate induced excitotoxicity and the effects aren't necessarily immediate but play a role in chronic neurological/neurodegenerative diseases. I've seen too many sick people benefit from taking steps to address NMDA receptor overactivity while limiting glutamate intake to ever consume more than is naturally present in the foods I eat. This is just the decision I've come to and I don't pretend to speak for anybody else.

 

[Blackthorn]

All the stuff about MSG is all bullshit. Use it if you want.

A whole bunch of other shit is what's really killing you.

I haven't exercised a day in my life, I sit hunched at a desk all day and I'm constantly bombarded with stress and anxiety.

That fucking MSG is killing me, man.

 

[tearsintherain]

Yeah all the stuff about MSG is bullshit, it started in the 60s as a thing against chinese food and then in the 80s a researcher injected MSG into mice in amounts that horses would take, plus you know the whole "you eat MSG not inject it" thing. More scientific studies have more or less debunked any harmful effects of MSG.
http://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/is-msg-bad-for-your-health/

Too late in America though, people automatically avoid anything that has MSG.

 

[Armaros]

Yeah all the stuff about MSG is bullshit, it started in the 60s as a thing against chinese food and then in the 80s a researcher injected MSG into mice in amounts that horses would take, plus you know the whole "you eat MSG not inject it" thing. More scientific studies have more or less debunked any harmful effects of MSG.
http://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/is-msg-bad-for-your-health/

Too late in America though, people automatically avoid anything that has MSG.

Even tho a huge basis for cooking throughout history is adding things with natural MSG (even if we didn't know what it was at the time, we just knew it made things taste good)

 

[Zoe]

It's a legit allergy

You can be allergic to anything, but just claiming it doesn't make it so.

If you can eat any of those foods that have naturally occurring MSG, you're not allergic to MSG.

 

[Armaros]

You can be allergic to anything, but just claiming it doesn't make it so.

If you can eat any of those foods that have naturally occurring MSG, your not allergic to MSG.

I've had people come to me and say they were allergic to salt at a restaurant and were put out when people informed them they couldn't be served then.

 

[Iorv3th]

I never check anything for it or use it in cooking myself but I will eat it if it's in something i order. I remember my mom using it when she fried okra.

Nah.
That's like being allergic against sweet things.


MSG is the crystallized form of an amino acid. i.e. most of your own proteins (and the ones you eat) are in part made out of it. I would think someone with a legit allergy won't live very long...

Your whole umami sense of taste is based on that one amino acid, though only the unbound form (like added MSG or naturally e.g. in cheese, many types of seafood, broths etc.)

Diabetic?

 

[Sir Blaming]

Diabetic?

That's having too much sweet things.

Well, if it does not bring harm to me then sure. I still remember some products or restaurant having these non-msg logo, was odd at the time.
Editddly enough, a quick google shows that people here still believe that msg are harmful.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

It's gotten a "bad rap" because anything that artificially includes it does so in quantities that FAR exceed the levels in foods it naturally is found in

 

[ISOM]

MSG is great and I use it sometimes when I cook. You can literally buy it on Amazon. The health scare is just really bullshit.

 

[DJ_Lae]

Big yay. I remember when they took that out of a ton of foods, and it sucked. I still see Chinese restaurants touting MGS-free as if it matters, but thankfully most places put it back in.

I have some in my cupboard, too. It's great.

Not sure if their labeling is a result of the MSG hoax scare, but other than the ingredient list they don't mention MSG anywhere.

 

[gutter_trash]

Nay, they make throat contract

 

[RuGalz]

MSG is fine, but I want to know if you can have too much of it. I believe in moderation.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

Nay, gives me a dry throat and using MSG is like cheating. It's the cheap/lazy/sleazy way to create something tasty.

 

[amanset]

It's a legit allergy

It is. However most of the people that self diagnose it almost certainly aren't allergic.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

MSG is also naturally occurring in like tomatoes and cheese.
.

MSG is fine, but I want to know if you can have too much of it. I believe in moderation.

you can have too much of any substance. dose makes the poison.

 

[amanset]

Yay.

Stigma rises from that MSG is from a foreign country and pseudosicence.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-flawed-science-and-xenophobia/

I'd say it is purely the name. It triggers with the type of people that complain about stuff containing "chemicals".

 

[amanset]

and then in the 80s a researcher injected MSG into mice in amounts that horses would take, plus you know the whole "you eat MSG not inject it" thing.

Aspartame has the same issue. The injected so much into the rats that if you consumed the same amount via fizzy drinks you'd die from the water intake.

 

[BriGuy]

Big yay. I remember when they took that out of a ton of foods, and it sucked. I still see Chinese restaurants touting MGS-free as if it matters, but thankfully most places put it back in.

I have some in my cupboard, too. It's great.

Not sure if their labeling is a result of the MSG hoax scare, but other than the ingredient list they don't mention MSG anywhere.

I've got 3 lbs of this in my cabinet (basically a life time supply). I don't dump it on everything, but it really makes some kick ass tacos.

 

[Haly]

A-ok. I consider the majority of anti-MSG sentiment to be on the same level as gluten "allergy".

Grew up on this stuff, it's great.

(Yes, I know there are genuine cases of celiac disease, but, no, I don't think it's prevalent enough to explain the gluten-free diet fad.)

 

[ThatGayWolf]

All I have to say about msg is: give me that fucking crystal.

 

[Erheller]

I'd say it is purely the name. It triggers with the type of people that complain about stuff containing "chemicals".

Can you explain why so-called MSG poisoning called Chinese Food Syndrome, then?

MSG is a name that puts off people who don't like chemicals, that's certainly part of it. But there are many, many people who won't eat specifically Chinese food because it has MSG in it when they eat loads of other food that have tons of MSG in them. There's definitely an element of xenophobia in it.

 

[Chojin]

Gimme dat Umami MSG all day. Omnomyom.

 

[WaterAstro]

You can't be allergic to MSG, but you could be sensitive to it. MSG is just a flavour enhancer.

I used to be slightly against MSG, but I took it upon myself to look at studies about MSG, and I'm not so against it anymore. I always prefer having natural ingredients, but I don't think MSG is bad. It's not good either because MSG is just nutritionally nothing. It's an empty flavour enhancer that people need to be careful not to substitute natural and nutritional flavours (like salt and pepper).

Those who want to reduce sodium intake could use MSG because, despite it being sodium, it is far more flavourful than normal salt, and could reduce your amounts. Of course, if you use unrefined salt, never use anything else.

 

[amanset]

Can you explain why so-called MSG poisoning called Chinese Food Syndrome, then?

MSG is a name that puts off people who don't like chemicals, that's certainly part of it. But there are many, many people who won't eat specifically Chinese food because it has MSG in it when they eat loads of other food that have tons of MSG in them. There's definitely an element of xenophobia in it.

I'd say that's why it started, but not why people claim the allergy today. And the name has stuck.

But you're right, I used "purely" more in an informal sense rather than meaning "it is this and only this".

 

[massoluk]

My friends and family still believe in the debunked shits. The falsehood is too ingrained now