The big salty MSG debate

[Lilitu]

Do you use MSG in your cooking? Do you think it's harmful?

I personally don't use it when I'm cooking, but my mother does have it next to the salt and potato starch, and uses it in small amounts in food that need the boost of flavour.

I tried a bit of it on my tongue and it's just that, a savoury umami taste.
But none of the food I cook really needs it because usually I cook very strongly flavoured dishes with lots of herbs spices garlic and all that jazz, but I wonder how much of a difference MSG would make?

[dfiant]

I prefer food without MSG, don't think it is required especially in Asian dishes where Soy and wasabi and the likes will suffice.

MSG either bloats or binds me, it always gives me a restless nights sleep and can leave me short of breath, almost asthmatic.

It is generally considered safe because if you do have side affects, they are generally short term and not considered to cause long term damage. In Australia food must be labelled if it has MSG in it, but there are no binding laws on the addition to foods with MSG.

Ask a chef if they use MSG in cooking they will generally say NO even if they have/do because the amount of people that have any affects from it are very small.

I'm not entirely convinced it is safe, but then again what additives, preservatives or foods in general ARE safe these days?

[Blue]

No, and I don't eat out often, never at oriental restaurants because of MSG. It gives me 2-3 days of irritable bowel like symptoms so, for me it is harmful, and it isn't needed in anything.

[Lilitu]

I get bloating and discomfort from eating at Chinese restaurants too, but I don't think it's the MSG. I think it's actually the huge amount of oil in much of the food, along with rice.

To me MSG isn't harmful, but I guess if the inventor's wife Mrs Ikeda could cook delicious food with a good umami flavour just using kombu dashi, I can too. It's easy enough to get the glutamate from normal ingredients, and if in doubt, pop in some marmite :3 it apparently has high levels of glutamate and so maybe it'll work? Vegans use yeast extract in their cooking, to simulate the flavour of cheese.

[Undreamt]

MSG is just another form of salt, it can have its uses if used properly,
hard to get the umami taste any other way

[Rainbowmum]

I do not , as my eldest was asthmatic and with me it brings on migraines and cluster headaches.

[trywait]

i dont use msg in my cooking and dont eat at chinese retaurants that season their food w/it

[Watermark]

I stopped buying products which have it some years ago. Don't know about the harmfull part but I don't like the taste of it at all.

[Genersis]

I've never heard of MSG. :redface:

[monk]

I've never heard of MSG. :redface:

Mono Sodium Glutamate.


Apart from Chinese takeaways I didn't realise anyone used it. :eek: