Via Flickr Creative Commons by Stefan
2020 may go down as the year the myth of the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome finally went away.
The medical community long ago dismissed concerns about the health impact of MSG, but it remained a popular belief.
This year the Ajimonoto Group launched its Know MSG campaign to expose the mistruths commonly believed about MSG.
“In early 2020, we alerted the world to the xenophobic, misleading definition of Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. After weeks of public outcry, Ajinomoto convinced the Merriam-Webster dictionary to update their outdated definition.” the group states on its campaign’s website.
“In addition to labeling the term “dated” and “offensive,” the new entry includes a note that reads, “Research in the years since has failed to establish a clear link between those adverse reactions and the consumption of MSG, and the term Chinese Restaurant Syndrome has been criticized as misleading and potentially offensive.”
As Five Thirty Eight reported in 2016, MSG has been found in foods ranging from snacks and baby foods since the 1950 and became synonymous with taste. Somehow, it also became associated with Chinese foods and tied with such symptoms as headaches and achy limbs.
That myth dates back to a letter submitted to the New England Journal of Medicine in 1968 by a doctor who drew a connection between eating in a Chinese restaurant and negative health impacts. News articles followed and the belief gained popularity through the early 1980s.
Today, nearly all research has found nothing wrong with MSG. According to CNN, the FDA first recognized MSG as safe in the 1990s. A joint study between the United Nations and World Health Organization reached the same conclusion.
The KNOW MSG campaign is hopeful 2020 will go down as the year fears of the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome can be laid to rest for good.
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