The MSG Scare Of Chinese Food — Is Monosodium Glutamate Or ‘Aji-no-moto’ Harmful Or Not?

“The great MSG myth exposed: it’s not bad for you” screams a headline in the UK daily ‘The Sunday Times’. Now, that is news, because one has repeatedly heard elders make this claim about Chinese or East Asian cuisine: “It contains Ajinomoto or monosodium glutamate. Your brain will become dull!” For decades, the flavour enhancer has been blamed for making people feel ill after consuming Chinese food, or even harming our long-term health, reminds the recent report in the Times.Chinese people use monosodium glutamate (MSG) in all sorts of hearty food — not greasy takeaways. Although TikTok is banned in India, the website is reportedly teeming with videos from food influencers with millions of fans celebrating a seasoning they call “the king of flavour”. The magic ingredient? MSG.This might seem rather odd as, for decades, MSG has been villainised and made to seem unhealthy. Many of us have used noodles or other Chinese products after checking the label for MSG. So, what is the truth?ALSO READ | Stop Relying On BMI As Only Measure of Obesity, Says Lancet Report: ‘Fit People Likely Ruled Overweight’The History Of MSGThe chemical was first prepared in 1908 by the Japanese biochemist Kikunae Ikeda. While studying in Germany, Ikeda was flummoxed by the foods he was seeing for the first time, such as cheese, tomatoes, etc. But he also found that they had a certain familiarity of taste with a seaweed broth native to Japan called Dashi. He called this rich, savoury flavour “umami”. Once back home, he did some research and found that umami was the result of the action of glutamic acid on the taste buds. And that, if he added sodium, he could stabilise the acid in the form of a white powder, which looks rather like table salt.Ikeda had struck gold. He made a commercial venture of it. He named the powder Ajinomoto (Aji-no-moto), meaning “the essence of flavour” — and it soon caught on like a rage and became a favourite seasoning for Japanese housewives. The seasoning does not have a particularly appealing taste by itself, but, when added to savoury foods, it enhances their flavour.Reports say that, by 1931, more than a thousand tonnes of Ajinomoto was being manufactured every year. It took off in China in the 1960s as it just enhanced and blew up the taste of Chinese ingredients, making the savoury dishes irresistible to food lovers. Chinese migrants took MSG to the US and Europe. Ajinomoto or MSG became the flavour enhancer that was often added to restaurant foods, canned vegetables, soups, deli meats and other foods. But then one report created panic.The Racial Bias Evident Here?In 1968, The New England Journal of Medicine published a letter from Robert Ho Man Kwok, a Cantonese-American doctor, who claimed that, when eating in America’s Chinese restaurants, he felt a certain “numbness in the back of the neck … general weakness, palpitation”. He speculated if that could be due to the use of “the monosodium glutamate used to a great extent for seasoning in Chinese restaurants”.Already, there was prejudice and racial bias against Chinese immigrants — unspoken fears that they are possibly cooking snake meat or frogs instead of chicken and mutton. The Times mentions how, in the 19th century, American writer Mark Twain had confessed that he refused to eat a sausage at a Chinese restaurant for fear it might contain rats. The MSG fear found a ready vehicle to carry it into the minds of the westerners as it latched on to this long history of suspicion. That was the birth of the ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome (CRS)’. The media and the scientific community also aided the spread of anti-MSG sentiments. ALSO READ | Never Self-Prescribe Vitamin D Supplements: This Is How It Could BackfireWhat Do Medical Authorities Say?The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified MSG as a food ingredient that’s generally recognised as safe. That does not mean the debate over its safety has conclusively ended. Though researchers have found no clear proof of a link between MSG and these symptoms, the FDA requires it to be listed on the label, so that people with known allergies can make an informed choice. The said light allergic reactions that a rare few people suffer for a short time upon eating MSG-containing foods are clubbed together as ‘MSG symptom complex’. They are: HeadacheFlushingSweatingFace pressure or tightnessLack of feeling (numbness), tingling or burning in the face, neck and other areasQuick, fluttering heartbeatsChest painFeeling sick (nausea)WeaknessA study by the University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, among others, published in Pub Med Central, says that “...it remains to be proven that diet-added MSG could induce behavioral, biochemical, and morphological changes in structures such as cerebrum, hippocampus, and cerebellum of adult mammals... Based on a critical analysis of existing literature, we posit that many of the reported negative health effects of MSG have little relevance for chronic human exposure to low doses”.A report by Harvard Medical School says: “In the 1990s, the FDA asked the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) to look into the safety of MSG. FASEB concluded that MSG is safe. They noted that any ill effects were mild and short-lived, and were typically associated with large doses (more than 3 grams) of MSG that were consumed without food.“Most people don’t ingest MSG on its own, and since most recipes call for a scant amount — 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per pound of meat (enough to feed four to six people) — it’s unlikely you’d consume it in high enough quantities to be affected.”Bottom Line: Go Easy, Take MSG-Related Claims With A Pinch Of SaltCan MSG cause damage to your health? For most people, consuming MSG in small quantities as part of a meal is unlikely to cause negative effects, unless you’re among the small group sensitive to it. However, since MSG is commonly paired with less nutritious or highly processed ingredients, it might be wise to moderate your intake and avoid the ultra-processed foods in which it’s frequently used.The writer is a senior independent journalist.