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- Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!news
- From: siddarth@cs.utexas.edu (Siddarth Subramanian)
- Newsgroups: misc.consumers
- Subject: Re: MSG
- Date: 22 Jul 1992 14:19:18 -0500
- Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
- Lines: 61
- Message-ID: <l6rd5mINNhhh@phobos.cs.utexas.edu>
- References: <1992Jul22.031156.29799@pony.Ingres.COM> <1992Jul22.144117.20399@walter.bellcore.com> <1992Jul22.184155.11235@pony.Ingres.COM>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: phobos.cs.utexas.edu
-
- In article <1992Jul22.184155.11235@pony.Ingres.COM> rion@Ingres.COM (Rion Cassidy (x3357) OGT) writes:
- >Are you implying that anyone who has a reaction to MSG is not "normal"?
- >While not being allergic to it, I do believe that it gives me headaches.
- >Becuase no one has died from it there's nothing to worry about?
-
- I don't think Jason was doing that. On the other hand, there seems to
- be a scare against MSG going on in this country for some time now and
- he was correcting certain misconceptions. If you think it causes you
- headaches, feel free to avoid it and insist that manufacturers list it
- in their ingredients.
-
- >I think that a very rational view (and the way I percieved the 60 minutes
- >report) is that this stuff has no real benefit, but can cause real problems
- >for some people. We have a right to know what products its in so we
- >can avoid it if we want to.
-
- "No real benefit" depends on your point of view. MSG is a flavour
- enhancer. That's the benefit.
-
- Here's some text from the on-line Academic American Encyclopedia. It
- is copyrighted but I believe this should come under fair use
- guidelines. It is reprinted here without comment, i.e., I don't
- necessarily claim that the information is all accurate or unbiased.
-
-
- Monosodium glutamate, commonly known as MSG, is a flavor
- enhancer that is widely used in foods. A white, crystalline
- powder, it is the sodium salt of glutamate. Glutamate, a
- constituent of all protein, occurs naturally in a wide variety
- of foods including meat, poultry, and many vegetables. MSG is
- produced through the fermentation of basic foods like molasses,
- a process similar to the one used to make yogurt or sauerkraut.
- The substance is widely used in commercially prepared foods
- containing meat and fish and in home kitchens under a variety
- of trade names. Optimal concentrations in food are 0.1 to 0.8
- percent, by weight, reflecting levels of glutamate naturally
- occurring in food. MSG is self-limiting. Too much may bring
- out unpalatable flavor notes in foods.
-
- Although MSG is on the Food and Drug Administration's Generally
- Recognized As Safe (GRAS) list, anecdotal reports have linked
- it with "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" (CRS), transient symptoms
- that allegedly occur after eating Chinese food and are reported
- as chest pain, facial pressure, and burning sensations.
-
- However, placebo-controlled, double-blind testing of subjects
- with suspected sensitivity to MSG have not demonstrated a
- relationship between CRS and MSG. In 1988, the Joint Expert
- Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations (JECFA),
- following a detailed review of the scientific research on MSG,
- placed MSG in its most favorable classification for food
- additives. In June 1991, the European Community's Scientific
- Committee for Food also reaffirmed MSG as safe.
-
- Full text of the Academic American Encyclopedia, with 32,000 articles.
- Data (c) Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. Updated September 1991.
-
- --
-
- Siddarth Subramanian INTERNET: siddarth@cs.utexas.edu
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