The New York Times ran a story today about Robyn O’Brien, a mother of three in Colorado, who recently began a crusade to educate people on what she believes to be the link between food additives and the perceived increase in childhood allergies. Basically, Robyn O’Brien believes that all of our medical woos can be blamed on the herbicides, artificial additives, and Frankenstein food being pushed onto the American public by giant, evil, profit-driven corporations.
On the surface nothing about this article would seem to have ANY link to the Asian/Asian American community…that is until you start checking out the comments section. I was only 11 entries in when I stumble upon the first (of many entries) implicating MSG as the most evil of all food additives. One commenter wrote:
“I have a sensitivity to MSG that peaked when I hit 40. But now there are studies showing that the brain and respiratory cells of children are being affected in ways that formerly were typical of adult complaints by those adversely affected by neurotoxins like MSG.And then there is the scary fact that MSG is being dumped into so many more food products every year with no thought to how such a large aggregate amount of it in children’s diets can affect them.”
Subsequent comments go on to blame MSG for everything from migraine headaches to global warming and impotence (not really but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had). Really? Are people serious? Are folks still obsessing about the supposed adverse affects of MSG? Hasn’t it already been established that the vast majority of people with MSG “allergies” are simply racists who use it as a guise to be mean and ignorant while still appearing inclusive?
Okay, so just to set the records straight, here are the facts about MSG:
There has only been one medical study that has been able to show a negative reaction to MSG…in mice. A 1995 review by the FDA (if you can trust them) affirmed the safety of it. Nearly all the negative associations about MSG (and the subsequent Chinese Resturant Syndrome) is anecdotal.
I just wish all those people who are afraid of MSG, SARS, the bird flu and lead contaminated toys from China would just come out and admit that they hate us. It’s okay. I’ve got tough skin. It would make finding the good people a lot easier.
(Flickr photo credit: The Other Dan)
Other posts you might be interested in:
Blog RSS Blog Comments RSS
Efren wrote:
I remember during my days doing medical sociology that someone called the widespread dislike and the socalled bad effects of MSG as “somatic racism”, that people who claim to have allergies to MSG really have issues about Asians/Asian Americans and the physical, though clearly psychological, MSG reaction is simply a way to justify not liking Asians in general.
I think it’d be interesting (are you listening you Asian American studies/soc/psych grad students?!) that someone should do a study on MSG and racism against Asians and finally put this to rest!
Posted on 09-Jan-08 at 4:01 pm | Permalink
Warren wrote:
Actually, because MSG is like an amino acid it can act as a neurotransmitter. Most neurotransmitters are chains made up of a few neurotransmitters. Calling it a neurotoxin is the Anti-Asian bias. You can basically call it a stimulant. It helps food taste better, but too much of it and it won’t be good for you. Too much of anything isn’t good for you. Although I use MSG in cooking I do find it overused at some really crappy places. I once had some Fried Chicken with chunks of MSG sticking to the batter. People tend to bitch about everything if they can get away with it. The people who frequent places who use a lot MSG and then complain about it aren’t necessarily the smartest people in the world.
Posted on 09-Jan-08 at 7:07 pm | Permalink
Jesse! wrote:
I have had one bad reaction to MSG but only one and I’m pretty sure I eat a lot of it and also do not not like Asians so…
It’s not so unusual to see folks get upset about it. There’s a current trend against anything unnatural (what that means is up in the air), and MSG falls into that category.
To justify MSG is good because “it occurs naturally in the body” is like saying cholesterol is good for you, cuz it’s in the body, or that saturated oils are good for you because your body adds hydrogen to unsaturated oils anyway. So I have to knock you there.
But totally true about it being in lots of things not considered Asian. I say ban it anyway along with HFCS which has lately been cleverly renamed: modified corn starch. Bastards!
Posted on 10-Jan-08 at 11:19 am | Permalink
Jesse! wrote:
oh and for the record, I think the increase in allergies (which ones?) are due more to environmental conditions and/or the allergy medication industry than anything else.
Posted on 10-Jan-08 at 11:23 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Well, to refute Jesse’s claims:
Cholesterol is required for all life to exist. Cells require cholesterol in various amounts in order to make their cell membranes flexible. The problem with the American diet (and most diets in the more economically developed countries), is that we eat a lot of foods that are high in cholesterol, so the body has more cholesterol than it needs, so it ends up floating in our bloodstreams and eventually causes plaques that the body can’t readily dissolve, leading to blockages, angioplasties, and heart attacks.
MSG is the basis of what’s considered to be “umami”, or the 5th taste, otherwise known as savory. Umami is a term invented by the Japanese to define foods that aren’t sweet, sour, bitter, or salty, and as Bo stated, is in a lot of “Western” foods, and yet many of the same people who claim to have an allergy to MSG can often be seen wolfing down these Western high-MSG foods, like peas, mushrooms, broccoli, cheeses, red wine, meats, etc.
It’s virtually impossible to remove MSG from your diet–so there has to be another reason why so many people claim to have MSG allergies, especially since it, more often than not, refers to people eating Asian foods.
Posted on 11-Jan-08 at 12:01 am | Permalink
T wrote:
My wife has severe allergy to MSG. She was fine with MSG while she was in US because the amount was not too much. After we moved to Taiwan, she was still OK with the huge amount of MSG used in most restaurants for about 1 year. Then one day it hit her big time. She got her first migraine after eating some Chinese fried chicken dish covered with a lot of MSG. The migraine was so bad that it took her 2-3 day to recover. Since then, she can’t eat food with MSG any more. The severity will depend on the amount used, but she can always tell.
Thai and Indian food do not use MSG. Far east Asian countries and Vietnam use MSG in daily cooking. In Taiwan, the more health conscious restaurants and many homes have stopped using MSG.
Posted on 14-Jan-08 at 7:41 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » MSG150, or “When White People Review Chinese Restaurants”: An Asian American/Asian Canadian Blog wrote:
[...] Obvious reference to MSG (previously refuted) [...]
Posted on 02-Apr-08 at 11:51 am | Permalink
Marina wrote:
We had Chinese from our local restaurant last night, normally I ask for no MSG but my husband ordered it and forgot to make this request. Normally, I enjoy the meal without MSG from the same shop and suffer no adverse reactions. Last night I enjoyed the meal, suffered chronic indigestion for several hours and had wild & vivid dreams. I did not know that my husband had forgotten to ask for no MSG until this morning. I do eat foods containing MSG such as Vegemite, Pringles, cheese, wine etc but without the negetive effects so as has already been suggested, perhaps in my case it is the amount used. To say that it is a racist thing is an interesting take as I count several Asians among my closest friends. As the dishes we order are always the same, we always buy from the same shop and the only variable appears to be MSG, can you honestly tell me that you believe I’m imagining these reactions or that I’m racist because I request no MSG?
Posted on 18-Jun-08 at 6:21 pm | Permalink