MSG: What’s all the fuss about?
MSG or monosodium glutamate, a commonly used food additive, has been classified as safe for consumption by global agencies responsible for food security – but that doesn’t seem to have convinced many of its detractors, particularly in the United States and other Western countries.
In a 2016 survey, the International Food Information Council found that about 4 in 10 Americans tried to limit or avoid consuming MSG.
What’s the fuss about MSG?
Derived from the amino acid glutamic acid or glutamate, MSG is a flavour enhancer used in Asian dishes as well as processed meats, canned soups and packaged foods such as instant noodles. It is produced from the fermentation of starch, sugar beets, sugar cane or molasses and provides a meaty or ‘umami’ flavour to foods. MSG also occurs naturally in tomatoes, mushrooms, parmesan cheese and other products.
The controversy surrounding MSG began in 1968 when biomedical researcher Dr Ho Man Kwok claimed to experience symptoms such as numbness in the back of the neck, general weakness and heart palpitations after eating at Chinese restaurants. These symptoms and others such as headaches, muscle aches, flushing, sweating, chest pain and nausea, came to be known as MSG symptom complex or Chinese restaurant syndrome.
Is MSG safe to eat?
Dr Ho’s claims set off extensive research into the safety of MSG, but the studies failed to provide definitive evidence to link MSG to MSG symptom complex.
In the 1990s, the US Food and Drug Administration commissioned the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), to examine the safety of MSG. FASEB concluded that MSG was safe.
According to FDA, MSG is “generally recognised as safe and “…we were never able to confirm that the MSG caused the reported effects”.
Reacting to reports that MSG could be harmful in higher doses for individuals with sensitivity to it, FDA says, “The FASEB report identified some short-term, transient, and generally mild symptoms, such as headache, numbness, flushing, tingling, palpitations, and drowsiness that may occur in some sensitive individuals who consume 3 grams or more of MSG without food. However, a typical serving of a food with added MSG contains less than 0.5 grams of MSG. Consuming more than 3 grams of MSG without food at one time is unlikely.”
In 2017, the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) announced an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of less than 30 mg/kg of body weight, for MSG and other glutamate food additives.
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