
Originally Posted by
southernhybrid
When Chinese restaurants used to put a lot of MSG in their food, it usually gave me a headache. There is no definitive research to support the idea that MSG causes any type of permanent damage, but it does give a lot of people headaches, or a few other side effects. None of the Asian restaurants that I've eaten at in recent years use MSG in the food anymore, so I have no idea why MSG is an issue now. It might just be the overload of sodium that gave some of us headaches. I don't use salt in my cooking or on my food, so maybe people like me just can't tolerate large amounts of sodium.
Anyway, I read a lot of medical sites before I posted this and they all said that there are a lot of people that have mild side effects from eating foods seasoned with MSG. I remember when it was a big thing for the menus in Asian restaurants to say, "no MSG added." That was a long time ago, so I didn't know anyone still used it. I can't tolerate a lot of other seasonings that are commonly used in Indian and/or Mexican food, but I don't think that makes me racist. It just means that I'm not able to tolerate certain spices and seasonings, so I avoid them as much as possible.
But seriously, do American restaurants still use MSG in the food?