Food Myth Debunked: MSG Isn’t Actually Bad for You

Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin is the co-founder of Part Time Vegan and Silent Book Club. As a former editor at Real Simple, she is compulsively organized and loves solving people's problems. She has a weakness for desserts, especially ice cream.
updated May 1, 2019
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(Image credit: American Chemical Society | YouTube)

Are one of the many people who go out of your way to avoid monosodium glutamate a.k.a. MSG? Turns out, not only is it nearly impossible to avoid, but it also is completely safe to eat.

A new video by the American Chemical Society is attempting to dispel the MSG myth and explain where our misconceptions originated.

MSG’s bad rap started in a letter written to the New England Journal of Medicine in the late 1960s in which the author attributed his symptoms after eating Chinese food to MSG. But glutamate is a naturally occurring substance in both our foods and our bodies. And according to the video the sodium part just makes it easy to sprinkle on our food.

Why do so many foods contain MSG? It’s long been used as a way to enhance the umami flavor in your favorite dishes. Watch the video to see the latest research. Then tell us whether or not you’ve ever had an adverse reaction you’ve attributed to MSG.

→ Read more: MSG Isn’t Harmful from The Science of Us

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