Monosodium glutamate(MSG) is a common food additive. The unhealthy processed food additive is used to enhance flavors and preserve canned foods. This ingredient is found in many foods. However, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has created a term known as “Chinese restaurant syndrome”. It is defined as “a type of condition that allegedly affects people eating ‘Chinese food heavily seasoned with monosodium glutamate,’ with symptoms like dizziness and palpitations”(Yeung 2020). Many people have created campaigns to change the term or take it out because its racist and ignorant. Activists believe its a “misinformation on the American public’s perception of Asian cuisine. MSG is found in almost all foods. The article mentions “a 1969 scientific paper identified MSG as ‘the cause of the Chinese restaurant syndrome’, and warned that it caused ‘burning sensations, facial pressure, and chest pain'”(Yeung 2020). Although at the time it wasn’t scientifically proven, the news about Chinese restaurants spread quickly. Chinese cuisine had a negative stigma around them. Chinese restaurants began adding “no MSG” to the top of their menus and created signs for their doors so people wouldn’t be afraid to eat there.
This incident relates to stereotyping. Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about groups of people that can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sex, and any other social category. The Merriam-Webster dictionary generalized all Chinese restaurants as unsafe. “A joint study by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ‘failed to confirm an involvement of MSG in ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’, and noted that the syndrome itself was based on ‘anecdotal’ evidence rather than any scientific fact”(Yeung 2020). Due to there being no actual evidence, many activists have called the term racist against Asians and their foods. Some people believe there was never an issue with Chinese foods, and that the term was created out of racism. People believe this because MSG is used in almost all foods in all cultures. If there was really an issue with MSG, it would be with all restaurants or all food, not just Chinese. The negative stereotypes created a stigma which were seen as racist.
Before reading this article, I had never heard of the Chinese restaurant syndrome. From reading this article I learned a new term, and about MSGs. Before reading this article I knew that MSGs were a food additive used to enhance flavors and preserve foods. However, I didn’t know they had such a big impact on health. For example, the article states that too much consumption caused “dizziness and palpitations”(Yeung 2020). I’m sure I’ve consumed a lot of MSG over the years without knowing what it can do. I also learned the extent stereotypes can get too. These stereotypes made people not want to eat at any Chinese restaurant because they believed it was unsafe. Another thing I learned is how false stereotypes can be. For example, the term Chinese restaurant syndrome was created based off the fact that they used a lot of MSGs in their foods. But the people who created this term failed to consider all the other foods that contain a lot of MSGs. In other words, the term should’ve been based of MSGs in general and not just the way its used in Chinese cuisine.
Word count 547
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/asia/chinese-restaurant-syndrome-msg-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
Sociology 201 