Short answer: No.
Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (but I’ll elaborate anyway).
We all know that MSG has a bad reputation, but why? Let’s dismiss the anecdotal nonsense and see what the science actually says.
We use MSG in the homemade garlic salt blend we season our nuts and seeds with. We’re upfront about it. It’s listed right there in the ingredients. When people ask if it’s bad for you, the honest answer is: it’s one of the most misunderstood ingredients in cooking.
What is msg, anyway?
MSG stands for monosodium glutamate. It’s a sodium salt of glutamic acid, which is an amino acid that occurs naturally in loads of foods you already eat.
Glutamate is found in:
Tomatoes
Parmesan cheese
Mushrooms
Soy sauce
Aged meats
Seaweed
Human breast milk
Your body also produces glutamate naturally. It’s essential for brain function and metabolism. You’re walking around with glutamate in you right now, and you’re fine. MSG is just the crystallised, purified form. When you add it to food, it enhances the savoury, umami flavour that makes things taste fuller and more satisfying.
So Where Did the Bad Reputation Come From?
In 1968, a doctor named Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine describing symptoms he experienced after eating at Chinese restaurants which included numbness, weakness, palpitations. He speculated that the cause of these symptoms might be MSG. This letter (not a study, just a letter) sparked decades of panic about “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.” You can read more here.
The problem? It was based on anecdotal evidence, not science. And it had uncomfortable racial undertones – MSG was fine when it was in your Parmesan or tomatoes, but suddenly dangerous when associated with Chinese food.
The media ran with it. MSG became the villain. People avoided it. Restaurants and food producers slapped “No MSG” signs in their windows and on their packaging (some still boast about it today, for some reason). The damage was done.
What Does the Science Actually Say?
Decades of research have been conducted since that 1968 letter. Here’s what we know:
Multiple Studies, Same Conclusion
- The FDA in the US reviewed the safety of MSG and classified it as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS)
- The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded years ago that there is no evidence MSG causes adverse reactions in the general population
- Studies attempting to replicate “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” in controlled settings have been unable to find consistent results
- When people are given MSG without knowing it (in blind studies), they don’t report symptoms
- I couldn’t find anything online to suggest it is bad for you- or on social media- other than angry “do your own research” people insisting their anecdotal experience is more valid than scientific testing
The Glutamate in MSG Is Identical to Natural Glutamate
Your body can’t tell the difference between glutamate from a tomato and glutamate from MSG. Chemically, they’re identical. The idea that one is “natural” and therefore good, while the other is “synthetic” and therefore bad, doesn’t hold up.
MSG Is Lower in Sodium Than Table Salt
MSG contains about a third of the sodium in table salt. If you’re using it to boost flavour, you can often use less salt in your cooking, which means less sodium in your diet. Yay!
The Nocebo Effect
Here’s the thing about MSG sensitivity: belief is powerful. When people think they’re eating MSG and expect to feel bad, they often do, even if there’s no MSG in the food. This is called the nocebo effect, the opposite of placebo (a friend, indeed…). Your brain convinces your body something is wrong, and you experience real symptoms.
This doesn’t mean people are lying or imagining things. The symptoms are real. But the cause isn’t MSG – it’s the expectation of harm. In controlled studies where people don’t know whether they’re getting MSG or a placebo, the reported symptoms are the same in both groups. So the issue isn’t the ingredient, right?
Why We Use MSG
Because it works. And it makes shit great.
MSG enhances umami; that savoury, meaty, deeply satisfying flavour that makes food taste complete. It’s why Parmesan makes pasta better. It’s why mushrooms add depth to a dish. It’s why tomatoes are the backbone of so many sauces.
In our homemade garlic salt blend, MSG rounds out the flavour. It works alongside the garlic, onion powder, and white pepper to create a seasoning that’s layered, satisfying and elavates both the smoke AND savoury notes provided by the chicken fat.
Could we leave it out? Well, yeah. Would the seasoning be as good? Of course not!
We’re not interested in making inferior products to avoid an ingredient that’s been unfairly demonised. We use MSG because it makes the nuts taste better, and the science backs up its safety.
If you consistently feel unwell after eating MSG, by all means avoid it. But there’s no scientific evidence that MSG is inherently harmful to the general population.
The Double Standard
Here’s what gets us: people worry about MSG in a succulent Chinese meal, or small bag of deliciously smoked and roasted nuts, then happily eat:
- Parmesan cheese (packed with natural glutamate)
- Tomato-based sauces (a whole lot of natural glutamate)
- Marmite (literally made from glutamate-rich yeast extract)
- Crisps (often contain MSG or similar flavour enhancers)
- Ready meals (loaded with sodium and other preservatives, but no, it’s the MSG)
The inconsistency is frustrating. MSG has been singled out unfairly, largely because of xenophobia and bad science from the 1960s.
Should You Avoid It?
That’s completely up to you.
If you have a genuine sensitivity, avoid it. If the idea of eating it makes you uncomfortable, don’t eat it. We’re all adults here and nobody is going to force anyone to eat anything.
But if you’re avoiding MSG because you’ve been told it’s dangerous, we’d suggest you to look at the actual science. Decades of research from multiple countries and regulatory bodies have concluded the same thing: it’s safe. MSG has been used in Asian cooking for over a century. It’s in millions of kitchens worldwide. If it were genuinely harmful, we’d know by now, surely.
MSG isn’t the villain it’s been made out to be. It’s a flavour enhancer that’s been studied extensively and found to be safe. The panic around it is rooted in bad science and cultural bias, not evidence.
We use MSG in our homemade garlic salt blend because it makes the food taste better, and the science supports its safety.
If that makes you uncomfortable, that’s fine – there are plenty of other recipes and products out there. But we’re not going to avoid an ingredient that works just because it’s been unfairly demonised. Good cooking is about using the right ingredients in the right amounts. MSG is one of them.
What we are watching: The Best Ever Food Review Show on YouTube. We even can look past his friendship with J*e R*gan.
What we are listening to: songs by Jean Grae. She made good music.
