MSG

“MSG is the crack cocaine of glutamate” once said by Stephan Guyenet who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from The University of Virginia. Guyenet is one of the millions of people who have falsely believed the stigma that surrounds MSG (Monosodium glutamate). People act like msg is a schedule one drug, false dichotomies are the essential reason to why we portray msg is evil. According to Anna Maria Barry-Jester, a senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News msg has been stigmatized because of xenophobia, lab experiments were flawed and flat out lies.

Msg has been supported by many Buddhists who used that umami flavor to enhance vegetables. The tasty food additive has been chemically embedded in the food we love. In the early 1900s, a Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda was said to be the founder of the chemical. He found out the fifth taste to the human tongue. After that, there was a widespread of msg in Asia. It was later brought across to the US in the mid-1930s and sold to big companies like Campbell’s Soup Company.

The “Chinese restaurant syndrome” was just the beginning. Many people tried accusing msg of heart problems and restlessness. This was originated from the discrimination of Asians, post-Pearl Habor, Asians weren’t on good terms with white America. Let’s not forget Franklin Roosevelt who signed an executive order to round up Japanese citizens living in the US. This is one of the reasons any imported good that came from Asia got a bad wrap. Racism was the root cause of false studies along with the racist policy. The United States literally pulled families out of their house because of their identity. The inhumane treatment was unjustified and corrupt. The epistemological justification for internment camps was because all Japanese were “Suspects”. Institutional racism has existed since 1419, the slave trade. The government just picked a new identity to lobotomize.

When American studies we’re published about msg, many just presumed it was all true. In reality, they were proved to be flawed. The method in which the experiments were executed allowed for bias to be a large factor. This stigma of Chinese food has created an extremely racist agenda for some. Asian cuisine has been looked down upon just for using a harmless ingredient. Xenophobic studies falsy accuse msg of headaches and heart problems, but little did they know was that most packaged American food contained msg.

Many world-renown chefs use msg in their daily cooking to enhance flavor. For example, Grant Achatz of Chicago’s Alinea incorporates msg in their cooking. They both reach the consensus that msg has no inherent harm.

People make the argument that large doses of msg are bad for your health, but we can use that same framework with salt. If a person was to consume large doses of salt, they would see negative repercussions. A consumption of practically anything in large doses will have its negatives. Another common dispute is that msg causes cancer, but this is absolutely invalid, the FDA has even come out and said there is no correlation between the two. Along with stating that msg hasn’t been linked to causing any symptoms that are isolated by the Chinese restaurant syndrome. Early scientific studies have failed to correctly use placebos and instead used high doses of msg, causing them to automatically blame msg. Many other scientific reports have debunked the myths around msg, but the stigma just won’t erase away.

Msg wasn’t the first food to be shunned. Another example of America demonizing a culture for their food is garlic when Italian immigrants came to the US. The smell scared people, enough for them to draw false conclusions. Many chefs are afraid to even use msg after it being proven to be harmless. The stigma will cause a downfall in customers who are uneducated.

It’s time to get over the scar that western society has painted on msg. Empirical evidence has proved it’s safe, backed by the FDA and the UN. Msg is nothing more than another ingredient we should keep on our spice cabinet. A sprinkle of msg has never harmed a soul, and it never will.

-Rayan Uddin

Michail, Niamh. “EFSA Sets Safe Intake Level for MSG and Glutamate Additives, Urging New Maximum Levels.” Foodnavigator.com, William Reed Business Media Ltd., 12 July 2017, www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2017/07/12/EFSA-sets-safe-intake-level-for-MSG-and-glutamate-additives-urging-new-maximum-levels.

Works Cited

@whsource. “MSG is the crack cocaine of glutamate, and soy sauce isn’t far behind. Food Reward Friday!

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2015/07/food-reward-friday.html …” 2:00 PM. 3 Jul, 2015., https://twitter.com/whsource/status/617075420672978948.

Anna Maria Barry-Jester 16, 1–8–2016, “How MSG Got A Bad Rap: Flawed Science And Xenophobia,” FiveThirtyEight, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-flawed-science-and-xenophobia/

Annaliese Griffin November 29, 2018, “The persistent, racist myth of “Chinese restaurant syndrome” just won’t die,” Quartzy, https://qz.com/quartzy/1477172/the-persistent-racist-myth-of-chinese-restaurant-syndrome-just-wont-die/