Content Warning / Educational Disclaimer: This article post contains sensitive topics and reflects Open College UK Limited’s opinions for informational purposes only.

How a food additive falsely became a feared ingredient!

MSG (monosodium glutamate) occurs naturally and is also produced for food use through fermentation.

Contradictory to false belief!

This food additive is not a purely synthetic substance and is produced using fermentation methods. It exists naturally in foods and has been consumed by humans for many decades.

MSG to put it simply is a concentrated form of glutamate which is an amino acid that naturally occurs in everyday foods that you eat like tomatoes, cheese, mushrooms, seaweed and various fermented products which you didn’t know!

The human body processes glutamate as it is a naturally occurring amino acid already present in human biology.

MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. Glutamic acid breaks down into glutamate, which is specifically responsible for the savoury taste you may know has umami.

When MSG or monosodium glutamate is made for food usage, it’s produced through a process of fermentation using bacteria in a process similar to making yoghurts, soy sauce and vinegar.

No unusual or non-food substances are added during the production process.

The final compound is chemically identical to glutamate found naturally in foods, based on current scientific understanding.

MSG is the most talked about food additive of the last half a century and very few other ingredients produce anything near strong reactions as MSG fears, both physical and emotionally despite it being an ingredient in the foods you eat today across all cultures over 100 years.

Some people fear MSG for the following reasons, often due to misinformation or misunderstanding but pay no attention to the highly processed foods such as biscuits, cakes, refined carbohydrates, and added sugars and salts, which are often associated with poorer health outcomes when consumed excessively.

And yet many of these foods are linked in research to negative health outcomes when overconsumed.

The belief that MSG is dangerous or should be avoided entirely. People will tell others keep away from it without knowing why and all it is a simple seasoning that enhances flavour.

The fear of MSG developed over time through early assumptions, cultural bias, described by some commentators as having racialised undertones, and incomplete science.

MSG was first isolated in the year 1908 by a Japanese food chemist called Kikunae Ikeda (do your research) who extracted glutamate from kelp otherwise known as seaweed and he did this while he was studying why certain broths had a richer and more satisfying taste. Even today, Japanese cuisine is well known for its refined approach to flavour development.

He identified glutamate uniquely extracted from the natural food as the main compound and developed a way to produce it in a safe stable and usable format usually powder or granules.

Moving forward to today, MSG is produced through a fermentation process using starches or sugars from foods such as sugar cane, cassava, corn or beet sugar. If anything, excessive sugar intake is more commonly associated with health concerns than MSG.

This fermentation process is very similar to how yoghurt, vinegar and soy sauce is made whereby the end result is purified glutamate combined with salt sodium, creating a seasoning that intensifies certain savoury flavours without adding much overall sodium compared to salt.

In other words, MSG is a concentrated form of something that actually already exists all over the world in the human diet.

Please see disclaimer far below at the bottom of this page and consult with a qualified dietician, GP or Doctor before making any changes to your diet.

How the fear around MSG arose!

The fear and bad reputation can be traced back to a short letter published in 1968 in the New England Journal of medicine where the author described a set of symptoms such as headaches, flushing, sweating and chest tightness experienced after eating at a Chinese restaurant.

The unfair term Chinese restaurants syndrome was coined and the idea or belief rapidly took hold and spread like a mind virus all through suggestion fear and nothing more than that.

What’s also overlooked is that this letter was not a controlled study, anecdotal speculative and explicitly labelled as such, in other words this was placed on it, this title of what the document or letter was.

Although clearly labelled for whatever reason, this myth or idea spread very fast through media coverage and public conversations.

MSG became associated with discomfort, illness and vague neurological symptoms despite a lack of consistent supporting evidence. This association persisted despite the absence of strong, reproducible scientific evidence.

Over time the fear stuck and MSG was framed as an artificial, foreign or dangerous substance. Additionally cultural factors played a role too as the concern was disproportionately linked to various Asian cuisines. Even though MSG was at the time and still is vastly used in processed western foods under different names and in restaurants within the UK.

What the Research Actually Shows

Since the 1970s, MSG has been one of the most studied food additives in the world of all foods. Many controlled studies have attempted to reproduce the symptoms associated with MSG sensitivity.

If it wasn’t MSG it would become something else to blame, as the cause or the association is similar to some people with migraines who associate bananas, cheese or chocolate to that symptom. Once a belief gets hold it’s almost impossible to change that person’s mind although this doesn’t rule out some people having sensitivity to certain foods such as intestinal issues or skin disorders.

These studies have generally failed to show consistent evidence of adverse effects in the general population when MSG is consumed in normal amounts.

Additionally, many double blinded placebo-controlled studies and experiments have also been carried out where neither participants nor researchers knew who received MSG or who receives the placebo, which is particularly telling and reinforces the result. These findings suggest expectation and belief may play a significant role in reported symptoms.

In many of the trials which are available in public records, the people who believed they were sensitive to MSG reported symptoms whether they consumed MSG or not and often fail to report symptoms when they did consume it unknowingly and this is often the theme of psychological and physiological experiments carried out by scientists trying to get to the bottom of such beliefs and claims.

Major health and food safety authorities have concluded that MSG is safe for the general population when consumed in typical dietary amounts.

Individual Sensitivity and the Role of Expectation

None of this above in any way invalidates individuals’ personal experiences and the suffering that people may go through as some people genuinely report headaches, flushing or discomfort after eating certain foods and will always do so because that’s the way it is. Identifying the exact causes is not always and will never be straightforward as it’s too much of a labyrinth to get to the bottom of.

Why MSG Became a Scapegoat

Additionally, MSGs rise as the demon food additive coincided with growing public distrust of processed foods and other additives more generally speaking.

MSG conveniently became the symbol of unnatural risky eating, irrespective of it being chemically similar to naturally occurring glutamates found in wholesome natural foods such as tomatoes.

And here the word ironically is being used to say that many foods marketed as MSG free which have now capitalised on it and reinforced the fear, contain ingredients like yeast extract, hydrolysed vegetable protein, or soy protein isolate all of which naturally contain free glutamates that function similarly in the body.

The power of belief

Fears around MSG grew faster than the corrections hence the reason it’s so feared now. Once an idea or a fear becomes embedded in the public consciousness especially when tied to health anxiety, which is also a real condition, It tends to persist even when evidence says otherwise.

MSG is a flavour enhancer that allows foods to taste better with less salt for most people.

Disclaimer
The content on this website, including all articles, posts, and comments, is provided by Open College UK Limited for educational and informational purposes only. It reflects the views, experiences, and opinions of Open College UK Limited at the time of writing. Nothing on this site constitutes professional advice—medical, psychological, legal, or otherwise.

Always consult a licensed professional (such as a GP, medical doctor, psychologist, or therapist) before making any decisions that could affect your health, well-being, or legal obligations.

The views expressed here are those of Open College UK Limited and are opinion-based. They are not intended to accuse, defame, or target any individual, group, business, organisation, or entity. Any resemblance to real persons, organisations, or events is purely coincidental.

Use of this website and any reliance on its content is entirely at your own risk. Open College UK Limited does not accept responsibility or liability for any consequences, direct or indirect, resulting from actions taken based on this content.

This website may discuss sensitive, controversial, or challenging topics intended to inform, provoke thought, and raise awareness, not to incite or offend. Readers are responsible for interpreting and applying the content responsibly and legally in their own context.

Accuracy and completeness: All information in this article, post, or any other content on this website may not be accurate, complete, or up to date at the time of reading. Readers must undertake their own research and exercise independent judgment before acting upon any information contained herein.

Copyright: All content on this website is owned by Open College UK Limited. Reproduction, distribution, or use without prior written consent is prohibited.

Please feel free to link to this post.