The unsavory stigma surrounding MSG

Americans LOVE Chinese food; at one point on election night in 2020, Google searches to find some outnumbered searches for who had won the Presidency. But you'll still see signs around reading "No MSG," in restaurant windows, menus and on food packages. Have you ever wondered why?

Back in 1968, the New England Journal of Medicine published a letter written by a doctor titled "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome." The doctor described feeling sick after eating a meal at a Chinese restaurant, mentioning such symptoms as headache, palpitations, nervousness and dizziness.

Tom Sherman, a biochemist and nutrition expert at Georgetown University, says the letter sparked decades of research, and confusion, over MSG … even an entry in the dictionary for "Chinese restaurant syndrome."