Oh!
Hello there.
And welcome to another edition of ‘Will It Kill You?’
Tonight, we take a look at M-S-G or ‘Monosodium Glutamate’.
The Hidden Danger!
Silent Killer!
Evil white powder that excites your brain cells to DEATH!
MSG is a ‘flavour enhancer’.
It draws out that meaty, brothy, savoury taste that's also known as
‘umami’ flavour - though it doesn’t taste that great on its own.
Now you tell me!
MSG occurs naturally in meat, dairy products, vegetables - even in our own bodies.
Mmmmm.
Delicious.
So how did it get such a bad wrap and why do so many Chinese restaurants make of point
of saying they don’t add it?
The answer to that question begins more than a century ago - not in China, but Japan
with a Japanese chemist
mmmmmm
Whaddya call this, love?
Oh, It’s just seaweed soup, darl
Yeah but it’s what you’ve done with it.
He loved his wife’s seaweed soup so much, he analysed it to find
out what made it so tasty.
M….
S….
G….. and set about mass producing it.
Ajinomoto!
The essence of taste.
Pretty soon, MSG was all over Japan and China, which had its own version
called Buddha’s Hand!
America was buying loads of it too, and putting it in
canned food like Campbell’s Soup.
By 1947, you could buy MSG seasoning straight off the supermarket shelf!
Ac’cent!
Makes Food Flavours Sing!
And for a long time, everyone was eating MSG, and everything was fine.
Until 1968 To the editor
when Robert Kwok - a Chinese immigrant and medical doctor
- wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, describing symptoms he experienced after eating
at a Chinese restaurant.
numbness at the back of the neck general weakness and palpitation.
Dr Kwok speculated the cause could be soy sauce, cooking wine, the large quantity of
salt in the food, or monosodium glutamate.
I wonder if my friends in the medical field would be interested in seeking more information.
The letter sparked heated debate in the medical journal
I have experienced symptoms similar to those
described
‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’ is totally illusionary and non-existent
I didn’t say it wasn’t delicious!
But once the wider media caught on, the story spread
Flavoring Agent Tied To Strange Ailment From Chinese Food
Bewildering Malady Strikes Some Patrons Of Chinese Restaurants
Can Chinese Food Give Pain In The Neck?
and fears about MSG grew.
By the 70s debate over MSG research was raging.
Anti-MSG campaigners accused researchers of
colluding with the food industry to protect their financial interests
Which was a fair point - 5 of the seven scientists who conducted the FDA’s first review of
MSG’s safety had links to the industry.
But the anti-MSG camp was accused of fear-mongering and exaggerating findings
that don’t resemble the ways humans consume MSG!
Also fair.
MSG studies with negative findings often couldn’t be replicated.
And some involved injecting rats and mice with way more MSG than you’d ever eat.
Oh - no, this is for me!
And as the apparent epidemic continued, the list of MSG-caused symptoms grew longer and
stranger.
Mild headache, depression, sexual arousal, and ‘an irresistible urge to undress’?
It was the MSG!
But weirdly the MSG in breakfast cereals, TV dinners, frozen vegetables,
condiments, baby food and canned soup seemed less of a concern.
Maybe that’s cos the whole debate was just a little bit racist.
It’s all a rumour spread by the Italians!
Well - that was kinda racist too.
And here’s the thing - while MSG’s bad reputation persists to this day - evidence
that it’s harmful is still in short supply.
A review of studies into whether MSG causes headaches found they had
flawed methods and inconsistent findings, and said further studies are required.
A 2012 Cochrane review found no evidence that MSG worsens asthma.
And in studies with people who believe they’re sensitive to MSG, scientists haven’t been
able to consistently trigger reactions.
Which doesn’t mean their symptoms aren’t real
it just means they haven’t been shown to be caused by MSG.
Meanwhile, major food authorities consider MSG to be safe i the levels humans are likely
to ingest it which is less than 0.5g in a typical serving
of food with added MSG.
The US Food and Drug Administration also acknowledges that
Some sensitive individuals may experience short-term and generally mild symptoms
after consuming 3 grams or more of MSG without food.
Without food?
Who would do that?
What do you call this love?
Pure MSG without food!
If you are still keen to avoid MSG, where it’s used as a separate ingredient, it must
be listed on the label.
Though it can just be called “Flavour enhancer 621”.
But where MSG occurs naturally in an ingredient, it doesn’t have to be listed separately.
So it could be in any of these
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Which isn’t very helpful.
And since naturally occurring MSG is chemically identical to the additive, I guess we’ll
just have to tell you every single food it’s in.
Mushrooms.
Tomatoes.
Corn.
Wallnuts.
Pork chops.
Vegemite.
Parmesan cheese.
Peas.
Oysters.
Breast milk.
Kirsten! I'm on maternity leave.
Oh yeah, sorry. He's very cute
I know.