Why is Monosodium Glutamate harmful??!
Why is Monosodium Glutamate harmful??
Answers:
In 1959, the FDA classified MSG as a "generally recognized as safe", or GRAS, substance. This action stemmed from the 1958 Food Additives Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which required premarket approval for new food additives and led the FDA to promulgate regulations listing substances, such as MSG, which have a history of safe use or are otherwise GRAS. Since 1970, FDA has sponsored extensive reviews on the safety of MSG, other glutamates and hydrolyzed proteins, as part of an ongoing review of safety data on GRAS substances used in processed foods. One such review was by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Select Committee on GRAS Substances. In 1980, the committee concluded that MSG was safe at current levels of use but recommended additional evaluation to determine MSG's safety at significantly higher levels of consumption. Additional reports attempted to look at this. In 1986, FDA's Advisory Committee on Hypersensitivity to Food Constituents concluded that MSG poses no threat to the general public but that reactions of brief duration might occur in some people. Other reports have given the following findings:
* The 1987 Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization placed MSG in the safest category of food ingredients.
* A 1991 report by the European Community's (EC) Scientific Committee for Foods reaffirmed MSG's safety and classified its "acceptable daily intake" as "not specified", the most favourable designation for a food ingredient. In addition, the EC Committee said, "Infants, including prematures, have been shown to metabolize glutamate as efficiently as adults and therefore do not display any special susceptibility to elevated oral intakes of glutamate."
* A 1992 report from the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association stated that glutamate in any form has not been shown to be a "significant health hazard".
* A 1995 FDA-commissioned report acknowledged that "An unknown percentage of the population may react to MSG and develop MSG symptom complex, a condition characterized by one or more of the following symptoms:
o burning sensation in the back of the neck, forearms and chest
o numbness in the back of the neck, radiating to the arms and back
o tingling, warmth and weakness in the face, temples, upper back, neck and arms
o facial pressure or tightness
o chest pain
o headache
o nausea
o rapid heartbeat
o bronchospasm (difficulty breathing)
o drowsiness
o weakness."
Issues surrounding these health implications of MSG consumption are the subject of much debate. A considerable body of anecdotal evidence exists suggesting negative health effects, but this has not yet been supported by recognised research.
In April 1968, Dr Ho Man Kwok wrote an article for the New England Journal of Medicine where he said, "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...". This comment began a global health scare about MSG and "Chinese restaurant syndrome" was born. Considerable research has failed to find any syndrome related to MSG (or in fact any negative health effects at all), and Chinese restaurant syndrome is largely resigned to myth status. However, the damage was done, and MSG is still thought of as suspect by a large proportion of the general public, and many foods continue to be labelled "MSG free".
i *think* it's because it is an artificial chemical, and i believe it gives some people headaches. i think it's fine.
it's not harmful, but it is a chemical that they put in crisps or other snacks to make people addicted to them!
It is nowhere near as harmful as people seem to think. For a start glutamate is a perfectly natural substance, occuring in many foods. Peopel who *claim* to get headaches after eating Chinese food seem to have no problem whatsoever in eating the many other foods containing MSG.
It's a little bit of food-based xenophobia.
Some people claim that MSG triggers asthma especially in children. As an asthmatic I try and avoid MSG but probably eat a ton of it anyway with no side effects
As with many other foods some people are allergic to it. also any thing with the word sodium in it is jumped on as being harmful,, I love the way my wife uses it in asian cooking .. I dont think it is harmful
I sure hope it isn't harmful. It seems to be a main staple in my diet.
Chinese have been eating it for years
I agree with penny century, that MSG is not artificial, it occurs naturally. And according to Lonely Planet's travel guide to Laos (an old edition that I don't have anymore... 1989 or 1990s), studies actually showed it didn't cause many allergies at all, and that the claims of supposed harmful effects could be related to bad press a very long time ago. Keep in mind that it is an old book and there could be new studies showing the opposite!