Is MSG Actually Bad For You? | Talking Point | Full Episode

Believed to cause hair loss, headaches, and heart palpitations, it’s no wonder monosodium glutamate or MSG scares Singaporeans silly. About 64% of us claim we avoid the flavour enhancer. But what do we really know about this ingredient we all love to hate? And are our opinions of it based on scientific fact or fallacy? Talking Point finds out if MSG is really that bad for you?

0:00 MSG's bad rep
4:17 The discovery of MSG
5:50 How is MSG made?
9:13 Does MSG really enhance food flavour?
13:35 Foods you didn't know contain MSG
16:32 Why do MSG cause side effects?
19:50 Recommended intake of MSG

About the show: Talking Point investigates a current issue or event, offering different perspectives to local stories and revealing how it all affects you.
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[etlay]

My grandparents used MSG in their cooking and they lived a healthy life and died in their 90s but have to say they didn't consume sugar much in their diet. I think sugar is worst than MSG.

[ambition]

0:12: 🍲 Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has a bad reputation, but is it really that bad for us?
6:23: 🍲 MSG, a flavor enhancer, is made by fermenting natural ingredients like tapioca.
11:07: 👅 The taste of MSG can enhance the flavor of savory foods, but may not have the same effect on sweet foods.
15:22: 🧂 MSG is not harmful in moderate amounts, but excessive intake of sodium from both salt and MSG can be problematic.
20:43: ✅ MSG is a safe and effective flavor enhancer that can help reduce sodium intake.
Recap by Tammy AI

[_imhere]

I remember watching an experiment about MSG. They didn't tell people that it had MSG and no "side effects" were reported. But when they said the food had MSG even though it didn't, they said they suddenly had "side effects". It goes to show that those "warnings" against MSG really influenced a lot of people.

[antoniovalle]

Thank you. I’m from Brasil and grew up in an Italian neighborhood next to the Japanese neighborhood ( biggest Japan town outside Japan) where MSG is known by Ajinomoto. I won’t eat arugula salad without lime juice and MSG. IN THE 60’s and 70’s it was known as health food and used in pop corn and by people with hypertension to reduce the amount of salt the ideia is to use 1/2 salt and 1/2 MSG.
IF MSG causes cancer, I would be dead by now ( I’m 60).
I worked in pizza place for 30 years and every pizza place in America uses MSG, but they advertise “no MSG”
It was known as natural food just because it is natural. The irony is that most people that try to avoid MSG, don’t have a problem with chemical processed conservantes like yellow 15, blue this and red that, used in abundance by the food industry. I believe that prejudice played a role in this hoax. Ajinomoto MSG is a wonderful taste enhancer just like table salt or sea salt enhance savory dishes. As everything else, balance is important. Too much of anything is bad for you. Hence sugar, fat, alcoholic beverages, etc..
thank you again for this well done video. Nice going.

[larrylam]

I heard a story from a man 30 years older than me regarding the MSG. He wouldn’t eat any food containing MSG because he is afraid to have a heart attack. During the Vietnam war, every North Vietnamese soldier carry a kg of MSG to the South for fighting the war. The MSG serves two purposes. One for enhancing the lousy food and other to stop the bleeding from the bullet wounds. MSG was used to fill the cavity and it would stop the bleeding.

[rafiq]

Thank you for this documentary... Sick of people claiming MSG causes hairloss or its bad for you etc. Anything is bad if its taken in excess.

[einfachnurleo]

"The dosage makes a poison" is what our chemistry teacher always used to say. Salt is great to make food taste better and we do need it in our diet. However consuming too much of it or to consume it without actual food would of course be poisonous. Same with almost everything. You'd also be fine ingesting actual poison as long as the amount is small enough.

[xZeroOffical]

The king of flavour. Uncle Roger taught me to have it in my kitchen. It kinda changed my life, as I never enjoyed the food as much. Sometimes I consume it in excess, I have to admit, but not ever once had I felt negative side effect of it. 2 years with MSG and counting. It is so cringe seeing labels on food like "Without MSG" while MSG is perfectly safe.
It is like a innocent man wrongfully sentenced to life in prison.

[yeuemxuatdoi]

Growing up in Vietnam, I ate msg, but stopped after coming to America where it's said to be bad. It's only last month that I learned that msg isn't bad at all. Here in America, they used to claim that eggs are bad, then changed to say they're good. Red meat was bad. Now it's good. Fat animal meat was unhealthy. Now beneficial. Carb and sugar currently are the ultimate culprits....

[kaysionglim]

Keyword here is Umami. MSG is very much a fast and convenient way to add more savoury punch to food. How about making your own umami liquid or stock if you're cooking? Japanese culinery commonly used bonita flakes, dried anchovies, dried mackerel, miso, dried mushrooms and as mentioned in the video, dried kelp(seaweed). Asian seems to prefer stock from chicken, dried shrimp, ikan bilis, dried solefish, prawn shells, clams, fish bones & head, meat bones, soybean, fermented beans, dried mushrooms etc.. Of course, there's also vegetables stock. Other ways of adding umami includes fermented liquids like soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish gravy, liquid aminos, Worcestershire sauce etc.. Finally, my thoughts on this video: If savoury umami rich food is my goal, how much trouble am I willing to go inorder to extract umami from raw ingredients(cooking own stock)? Or could I not just use ready-made stock(liquids or powdered)? Or the instant handy MSG? 😉

[samorice]

In japanese cooking we usually use "kombu" which is usually called "natural MSG".

[pcd.t]

Whoever is doing that food art, you deserve a raise 👏

[Steven-xfmz]

MSG is in a lot of food but it's evil if it's used in Chinese restaurants. lol. I used to work in a Chinese restaurant during my HS days and occasionally I see fat people specifically ask for no msg in the food. Some people should be more concern about their diabetes from sodas and donuts rather than the little msg found in the egg rolls.

[ajprudence]

Great report! Because my parents operated Chinese restaurants I started to do research on MSG since the early 1970s. Just from reading scientific papers, I came to the same conclusion as your report. When patrons asked what MSG was, I told them the truth and most were shocked that MSG is natural like salt and even occurs in most preserved food with added salt. I would consume MSG as little as possible in the same fashion as reducing regular salt intake in my advanced age. In my restaurant, patrons have the option of no MSG in most dishes unless the key ingredients have naturally occurring MSG like sausages.

[chasingshangrila]

I’m ok without adding additional MSG anyway but is good to see new information about it. I love to keep learning.

[SW-fypq]

The problem is nowadays "new discovery" happens almost every year, a typical example is coffee, every year a new research done by whoever from whatever university, this year a new research says coffee is good for your health, but the next year the result will become opposite, it repeats again and again without failure. In addition, rich sponsor like famous brand can easily hire a professor from so and so university to write a research report about the benefit of their product. they can also pay media company to market their products. so the conclusion is don't blindly believe in articles from newspapers and media, majority of them are biased or can be untrue.

[amaiwatashi]

After i drank roughly 300ml of coffee, i felt dissy, my heart pump faster, i sweat alot, felt unsettling and sick. But if i drink a small amount of it, i feel okay and more awake. Thats it. Everyone has different toleration towards stimulants and nutrients, so know your body and don't over consume anything is the key. Msg isn't bad for you unless you have allergy or over consume it. If the food you buy/cook make you feel a lot more thirsty, lethargic or even sick, that means it has too much msg/salt/sugar in it. Avoid that food stall/brand, there are better choice out there, suitable for your needs. Cook more healthily.

JUST ALWAYS CONSUME FOOD IN MODERATION PERIODT.

[Rasengandattebayo]

Besides the documentary, the person doing the MSG art is awesome!

[giveaway]

I'm not really against MSG myself. But as an Asian I even don't use MSG that much since i have quite sensitive taste buds. A lil bit of it makes everything tastes somehow more sweet on my tongue and it has that prominent chemical taste to it. It also irritates my throat so much that my throat produces phlegm for quite some times. I read articles and journals about it that it may or may not has connection, but apparently some people also experience what I have myself.

[wanlai]

I feel somewhat vindicated watching this video. I grew up with my mum sprinkling msg in her cooking and I don’t understand why people said msg is evil. Looking back, I noticed my mum hardly ever use salt.