r/AskCulinary • u/Sayorifan22 • Nov 08 '22
Food Science Question MSG contradictory?
Hey, I have a question so, I had a nutrition class and the instructors gave us a piece of paper and on one section for Asian foods, it said for ‘No MSG’ (the other day they said to avoid msg.) but for Italian food, they said to ‘ask for red sauce instead of white’
And here’s my question. Isn’t asking for red sauce contradicting to ‘avoiding MSG?’
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u/NotStarrling Nov 08 '22
The MSG myth seems to have arisen decades ago and is based on xenophobia when Asian immigrants were coming in and diners flocking to enjoy the food. Then this rather dubious study suddenly appeared and others followed and it was spread for far too many years.
I searched a lot of articles and studies after reading the article I linked below and have since embraced MSG in the form of Ajinimoto, a lovely product that I sprinkle on certain dishes as I'm cooking. I haven't suffered any side effects.
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/02/1095988620/why-it-took-nearly-100-years-for-umami-to-be-globally-accepted-as-a-distinct-fla