Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Opinions

There's a reason why Chinese food tastes so good at 3 in the morning (and no it's not because you're drunk and the only thing that's open is on Spadina).

The answer is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), that sprinkling of taste enhancing goodness that urges you to gulp down forkfuls of General Tao's chicken even after you're full.

But, a little MSG here and there never killed anyone, right? The problem is that MSG goes into a lot more than you'd think, and with the myriad of adverse health effects MSG can cause, it might as well stand for "Makes Severe Gas" or "Migraine and Sensitivity Giver".

Studies conducted by the Federal Bureaus of Food Standards in Australia and New Zealand have referred to these effects as "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome", and enforce strict labeling policies on all MSG containing foods.

Aside from the standard nausea, headache, and skin sensitivity caused by MSG, it has also been linked to downregulating hypothalamic appetite suppression which is fancy science jargon for messing with the receptors in your body that tell your brain your stomach's full.

One of the reasons for eating past satiety as well as a contributor to obesity.

Such adverse effects are the reason behind signs and notices posted in Asian restaurants proclaiming NO MSG ! Yet, while the MSG scare has swept over the Asian food industry, you don't see those same signs at, say, Futures Bakery, for instance.

While scrutinizing some labels, I found MSG in cans of Campbell's soup and virtually every oyster sauce, Soya sauce, soup stock or chicken bouillon on store shelves.

Even "healthier" options at McDonald's, such as the Chipotle BBQ Wrap, or the Southwest Salad with grilled chicken, contain some form of MSG, not to mention 8 million other things you can't pronounce.

Basically Flavour packets, Knorr and Kraft Sidekicks, Kettle Foods chips and other junk you succumb to during midterms also contain MSG.

And if you're wondering why you don't see MSG listed in your foods (assuming you've looked), it's because MSG labeling is currently a contentious issue.

Things like hydrolyzed protein or yeast extract can contain MSG - however, chemical extraction processes and quantity make food product labeling a puzzling, tricky and often deceitful affair, which producers take advantage of.

If you're interested in the what, how and why of the foods you eat check out the FDA's website. Or for some amazing tongue twisters, the McDonald's ingredients list is fun to try and pronounce while going cross-eyed over.

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