MSG - Should it be banned?

danofmayz

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For those of you who are unfamiliar with this chemical compound, Monosodium glutamate is a non-essential amino acid used as a food additive.

It is commonly known to be a flavour enhancer which tricks the brain into thinking what you are eating is actually good for you or flavorsome.

It has been said to have many symptoms including depression. China are currently the biggest exponents of MSG who, coincidentally or not, have the highest rate of suicide in the world.

I, personally, cannot eat any foods containing MSG as I am almost certain it is a trigger for my migraine attacks.

How dangerous is this 'flavour enhancer'?

It would be great to hear your thoughts.
 
glutamate is found in all protein. How can you eat any protein if you cannot eat glutamate?
 
All double blind study I know of reported no effect above placebo, or insignificant low frequency effect, *even* when the study was done on people reporting sensitivity on MSG.

In other word : it should not be banned (how the heck do you ban something which is found NATURALLY in so many food anyway ?), and there are no health concern at the moment.

So. No.
 
John Jones said:
glutamate is found in all protein. How can you eat any protein if you cannot eat glutamate?
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And if that involves sodium and water you are basically creating MSG. Personally I think it is simply something that people get afraid of because it sounds scary. I am reminded of the calls for salt to be banned in the preparation of food in restaurants. I trained at a vocational school back in my high school days in culinary arts and there are some techniques that literally don't work without salt being part of the process.

Now I can understand a fairness in discloser type of situation in which a customer would be told a certain dish has a certain amount of salt, MSG, gluten, etc as part of the process if they ask. That is fair in that it would give them the ability to make an informed decision. For example I prefer soft drinks with sugar because of flavor, but I don't feel the need to ban corn sugar. I don't like to the idea of banning additives that have not been shown to cause any ill effects.

OR...I agree with you point.
 
MSG is one source of Umami, or Savory, one of the five basic "tastes", and while not the only source, it is closely related to other "natural" sources.

I don't know how you could expect to ban it, except to force disclosure if it was present, or limit "boosting" food with "artificial" MSG.

Since it is a positive signal to the brain, it seems it must have benefit for the body.

Dave
 
Heck MSG seems to have a future in any meat substitute product down the road. I know I have eaten what I thought was a pretty good vegan hotdog that just lack that certain...something...that probably could have been gained by a little MSG.
 
AFAIK MSG is in basically every type of flavored potato chip. Billions of which are are eaten daily.
 
OnlyTellsTruths said:
AFAIK MSG is in basically every type of flavored potato chip. Billions of which are are eaten daily.
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I think it's primarily BBQ no?

I've done the "MSG Reveal" with people that say they're allergic to MSG but eat those Hickory Sticks. I've noticed a lot of hickory flavouring contains MSG, that's why I thought BBQ chips might as well.
 
No, it shouldn't be banned. There's no reason for it to be banned as there's no evidence that it is unsafe. There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest some people have an intolerance to it, but that's not exactly concrete, and even it it were it's no reason to ban something. Mushrooms can bring on asthma attacks and peanuts can send people into anaphylactic shock but there isn't a witch hunt on those things.

IMO, the people (not necessarily the people with allergies,intolerance) who worry about msg or blame it for their health problems might want to take a look at their diets in general; MSG is in a lot of processed food and if their health is suffering for some undiagnosed reason, they might want to look at the crap they're shovelling into their mouths in general. Just saying...
 
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Red3 said:
No, it shouldn't be banned. There's no reason for it to be banned as there's no evidence that it is unsafe. There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest some people have an intolerance to it, but that's not exactly concrete, .
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I watched a TV show where they got a load of people who had an MSG "allergy" and cooked them a Chinese meal containing no MSG, but lots of foods with natural glutamates such as tomatoes. They all reported feeling sick afterwards because of the MSG they had "eaten".

It shouldn't be banned, it's a wonderful cooking ingredient as long as you don't use masses of it (like everything) and it's reputation is built by woo scaremongers and natural food idiots.
 
danofmayz said:
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this chemical compound, Monosodium glutamate is a non-essential amino acid used as a food additive.

It is commonly known to be a flavour enhancer which tricks the brain into thinking what you are eating is actually good for you or flavorsome.

It has been said to have many symptoms including depression. China are currently the biggest exponents of MSG who, coincidentally or not, have the highest rate of suicide in the world.

I, personally, cannot eat any foods containing MSG as I am almost certain it is a trigger for my migraine attacks.

How dangerous is this 'flavour enhancer'?
Click to expand...

"Conclusions: Oral challenge with MSG reproduced symptoms in alleged sensitive persons."
The monosodium glutamate symptom complex: Assessment in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study

OTOH, MSG has also been investigated as a dietary supplement.

"In a controlled trial, fortification of commercially marketed monosodium glutamate (MSG) with vitamin A improved serum vitamin A levels of young children and the vitamin A content of breast milk of lactating women. These improvements in vitamin A indices were accompanied by dramatic changes in health and anthropometric status."
Vitamin A-fortified monosodium glutamate and health, growth, and survival of children: a controlled field trial

"A number of studies have examined the potential usefulness of L-glutamate, added to food in the form of monosodium glutamate (MSG), in promoting better nutrition in the elderly and in patients with poor nutrition. Some positive effects have been observed."
Can dietary supplementation of monosodium glutamate improve the health of the elderly?

These at least demonstrate that while there is no good reason to ban MSG, it makes sense to clearly label prepared foods that include added MSG so that those who are known to be sensitive to it can choose to avoid it.
 
Red3 said:
No, it shouldn't be banned. There's no reason for it to be banned as there's no evidence that it is unsafe. There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest some people have an intolerance to it, but that's not exactly concrete, and even it it were it's no reason to ban something. Mushrooms can bring on asthma attacks and peanuts can send people into anaphylactic shock but there isn't a witch hunt on those things.
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And if I eat more than the tiniest amount of bread or pasta, I'm in for an utterly miserable time a few hours later. Ban it all!
 
fullflavormenthol said:
John Jones said:
glutamate is found in all protein. How can you eat any protein if you cannot eat glutamate?
Click to expand...
And if that involves sodium and water you are basically creating MSG.
Click to expand...

You both are being silly here. There is a very big difference in the chemical behavior of a complex protein and individual amino acids. And if the mere presence of protein in water is all one needs to make MSG, one may as well put sugar water in a blender and call it vodka -- after all, it's just H, C, and O, what more could there be to it?

fullflavormenthol said:
Personally I think it is simply something that people get afraid of because it sounds scary. I am reminded of the calls for salt to be banned in the preparation of food in restaurants. I trained at a vocational school back in my high school days in culinary arts and there are some techniques that literally don't work without salt being part of the process.

Now I can understand a fairness in discloser type of situation in which a customer would be told a certain dish has a certain amount of salt, MSG, gluten, etc as part of the process if they ask. That is fair in that it would give them the ability to make an informed decision. For example I prefer soft drinks with sugar because of flavor, but I don't feel the need to ban corn sugar. I don't like to the idea of banning additives that have not been shown to cause any ill effects.

OR...I agree with you point.
Click to expand...

Makes sense to me, as well. As I have cited above, there is evidence it can even be beneficial.
 
PixyMisa said:
And if I eat more than the tiniest amount of bread or pasta, I'm in for an utterly miserable time a few hours later. Ban it all!
Click to expand...

Food is clearly dangerous, perhaps there should be some kind of governing body to control it and make sure these things are sa...oh, hang on... :p
 
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