I see a lot of articles that defend MSG by saying that it occurs naturally in umami foods and that things like hydrolyzed proteins and yeast extract are just MSG.
Is it possible that while MSG is safe, the overzealous arguments aren’t completely true?
I thought what occurs naturally and what hydrolyzed protein and yeast extract actually is is glutamic acid, while MSG is monosodium glutamate which is the sodium salt of the acid so they technically aren’t the same.
In: Chemistry
MSG is perfectly fine and all of the health woes are largely hysteria with a healthy sprinkle of racism (allowing for the very rare person who is actually, genuinely allergic. You can be allergic to *water*, so yes, you can also be allergic to MSG. That’s right – some people take a shower or get caught in the rain and the *water* causes hives).
Consider this: Chinese restaurants feels compelled to put signs on their restaurants and notes on their menus saying “NO MSG” because of all the garbage about Chinese food causing headaches while KFC, Chick-fil-A, Doritos, and Pringles don’t. The same people who will swear deathly allergies to MSG at a Chinese restaurant will happily chow down on a KFC bucket – which is full of MSG – and then wash it down with a Doritos locos taco – which is also MSG packed.
Why the disparity? It all comes down to a letter written by a doc with an *anecdotal* observation that he got headaches when eating at a Chinese restaurant. This set off a storm of panic and hysteria over *Chinese* food and MSG, but at the time most Americans and Canadians were dusting their meals with “Accent”, “Knorr liquid seasoning”, “Maggi”, or any of the other “normal” housewife friendly brands and the biggest user of MSG was the food industry pumping out the new frozen foods. Chinese restaurants were a drop in the ocean of MSG in the Americas. Yet, they were vilified and singled out. *I wonder why*.
The legacy of this continues today. I am not saying that you are racist – MSG being bad is a cultural myth at this point repeated so often and from so many angles that it’s just accepted as truth without reflection – but there is a reason that Chinese restaurants feel the need to advertise a lack of a harmless ingredient in their food today while Doritos does not.
Also, there is a lot of misinformation out there about the origins of the letter that kicked this all off. The letter was actually real. The guy who claimed to write it as a joke was pulling a prank and did not write it. The whole thing is still not based on science and definitely is selective in where MSG outrage pops up.
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