Racism made us believe MSG was dangerous. Now, chefs are bringing the once-controversial seasoning back into the spotlight.

MSG has been branded as a dangerous food ingredient for decades, especially associated with Chinese cuisine.
The problematic controversy isn't rooted in science, but instead, racism.
Chefs of today are advocating to debunk dated myths about the ingredient's health impacts.
In 2019, Lucky Lee's, a fast-casual Chinese American restaurant in New York City, closed its doors after less than a year in business. According to a since-deleted Instagram post, the owner vowed to serve "clean Chinese" food that included less salt, grease, and would leave customers feeling less "bloated and icky." While the white-owned restaurant was met with immediate backlash for racist rhetoric, its original premise, to improve Chinese food fit for the refined western palate, sheds light on a prolonged battle between the Chinese food industry and racist myths about one commonly used ingredient — MSG.

"Instead of going to In-N-Out, they will settle for McDonald's because it's closer, cheaper, and faster," Powell, the managing principal at the industry consultancy Foodservice IP, told Insider. "Believe it or

Monosodium glutamate, abbreviated as MSG, is a popular flavor enhancer that has been popularized as a harmful processed additive mostly found in Chinese dishes, despite a plethora of scientific evidence that says the opposite. Not only has MSG been deemed GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the FDA, it is also naturally occurring in some foods, such as tomato products, protein isolates, and cheeses. Everything from chips to condiments, and frozen meals and fast foods, are also likely to contain MSG.

'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome'
The debate of whether MSG is safe for consumption began in 1968, when a doctor wrote a letter titled "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome," to the New England Journal of Medicine, complaining of falling ill after eating at Chinese restaurants. The story sparked outrage against the ingredient, quickly spreading the idea that Chinese food was dangerous. A year later, a scientific paper identifying MSG as "the cause of the Chinese restaurant syndrome," was published and claimed that it could cause "headaches, burning sensations, facial pressure, and chest pain."

It wasn't until 2020 that Merriam-Webster redefined its definition of Chinese restaurant syndrome from "a group of symptoms (such as numbness of the neck, arms, and back with headache, dizziness, and palpitations) that is held to affect susceptible persons eating food and especially Chinese food heavily seasoned with monosodium glutamate" to a term that is "offensive" and "dated." The so-called syndrome is one of several examples of viral monikers used to place blame on a country or group of people, and the effects are dangerous. Consider the COVID-19 global pandemic that former US president Donald Trump constantly, publicly referred to as the Chinese virus. Shortly after his racist rhetoric hit the mainstream, hate crimes against the Asian American community surged. Similarly, MSG myths impacted the Chinese food industry, so much so that "No MSG restaurants" lists exist all over the internet and many Chinese takeout restaurants still advertise against MSG use today.

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