MSG: Nutritional nuisance or good eats?

My wife swears that MSG gives her headaches. Frankly, my wife gives me headaches when she starts whining about the level of MSG in her Chinese food…because for all the noise generated about MSG’s supposedly harmful effects, nobody has been able to definitively determine that MSG – eaten in normal amounts – causes any physiological problems.

Despite this, many people persist in the belief that MSG causes everything from headaches to muscle weakness.

What is MSG?

MSG is short for monosodium glutamate. According to Wikipedia, monosodium glutamate is “…a sodium salt of the naturally occurring non-essential amino acid glutamic acid.” This is probably as Greek to you as it is to me, but what’s important is that MSG stimulates the ‘fifth taste’, or umami. While you’re probably familiar with the first four taste sensations (bitter, salty, sweet, and sour) – many taste authorities have begun to refer to a fifth taste sensation called umami, a Japanese word roughly meaning  ‘good flavor’. A more accurate interpretation would be ‘savory’. When you eat a steak, it’s this fifth taste sense that is being triggered.

MSG was discovered in 1907 in Japan by researcher Kikunae Ikeda and is a common flavor enhancer in many fast- and processed foods. Potato chips and flavored tortilla chips contain MSG as do packaged barbecue sauces and salad dressings. As you can see, even if you avoid Chinese food altogether, it’s very likely that you already ingest a fair amount of MSG without realizing it.

What do the experts say about MSG?

The Food and Drug Administration officially ruled that MSG is safe for consumption in 1959. The actual term is ‘Generally Recognized As Safe‘ or GRAS. Essentially what this means is that it can be safely added to food. The FDA is careful to define such usage as ‘intended use’, meaning don’t go around eating bowls full of MSG and you’ll be fine. Since then multiple reports and studies have concluded that, while a small percentage of the population may suffer minor problems when ingesting MSG, it is otherwise safe. Some side-effects were noted in lab rats being fed diets that were 20% MSG, but trust me – you could eat Chinese take-away every night of the week and not consume that much MSG.

One study conducted in the 70′s concluded that MSG can potentially be linked to obesity, but given that MSG is used in fast foods and snack foods, one wonders if the link goes the other way around.

So, if MSG is safe – why does everyone make such a big fuss about it?

Well – again…a small percentage of the population does seem to be susceptible to MSG-related side effects…no doubt about it. Insofar as Chinese restaurants are concerned, it’s notable that in 1968 a researcher actually coined a term for Chinese-food-related ickyness: ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’ (or CRS). Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote:

I have experienced a strange syndrome whenever I have eaten out in a Chinese restaurant, especially one that served northern Chinese food. The syndrome, which usually begins 15 to 20 minutes after I have eaten the first dish, lasts for about two hours, without hangover effect. The most prominent symptoms are numbness at the back of the neck, gradually radiating to both arms and the back, general weakness and palpitations…

A following article entitled Monosodium L-glutamate: its pharmacology and role in the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome directly linked the syndrome with MSG, but repeated double-blind studies showed no conclusive link between either Chinese food or MSG and the symptoms being reported as CRS.

Like many such beliefs, its’ a lot easier to spread the panic than it is to stamp it out. The fact of the matter remains: MSG is unlikely to cause any discomfort. Often times reports of this nature are highly subjective, and susceptible to post hoc ergo propter hoc thinking. In my wife’s case, I think she’s simply the victim of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you worry unduly about your dinner causing headaches – that’s likely to cause you a headache.

As with many such problems, a little critical thinking goes a long way.