# Umami - Kikkoman's Spin for MSG **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 22, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umami-kikkomans-spin-for-msg/500661 "2009-06-22T23:04:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umami-kikkomans-spin-for-msg/500661/61 "2009-06-26T19:42:24Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > My point is that MSG is, indeed, not bad. However, there’s a wide misconception in the West that it is, that probably started in the 1970s. Hence the need for companies that make “liquid glutamate” to put a spin on it. With me? Imagine a foreign country where there is no word for ‘salt’, only ‘sodium chloride’. Most of the residents are scientifically illiterate and freak out at the thought of eating something that has a “chemical” name. If you want to sell this product, you could try to present scientific research saying that this chemical is safe, but as I mentioned, they won’t believe you because they’re scientifically illiterate and paranoid about “chemicals”. Or, you could just say “Hey, this is an indispensable ingredient in all those American foods you import - we actually call it ‘salt’”, it comes from natural sources, our forbears have used it for millennia". I wouldn’t call it spin because spin implies misdirection concerning some material fact. Nobody is going to believe a company saying “Look, this chemical is perfectly free of harm, scientific research hath thus declared it”. And few people like being told “you’ve been secretly ingesting MSG in all your Asian food for years, so just add our product to that list”. But they would go for the argument that it’s so natural that other cultures have a routine foody word for it. I think it’s honest and a good solution to the problem that consumers are really poor at assessing risk in food ingredients. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umami-kikkomans-spin-for-msg/500661/62 "2009-06-30T16:25:53Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > And few people like being told “you’ve been secretly ingesting MSG in all your Asian food for years, so just add our product to that list”. Kikkoman soy sauce _doesn’t even have MSG_–it’s a different, related chemical. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umami-kikkomans-spin-for-msg/500661/63 "2009-06-30T21:18:03Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Kikkoman soy sauce _doesn’t even have MSG_–it’s a different, related chemical. I’m pretty sure all fermented foods contain MSG. Maybe not as much as foods that have MSG specifically added, but… it’s a natural byproduct of the fermentation process. ---
**Author:** ![monkeytree5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@monkeytree5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monkeytree5)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umami-kikkomans-spin-for-msg/500661/64 "2009-12-06T02:08:13Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > (Bolding mine) > > I would consider death to be an “ill effect.” > > A good friend of mine from high school was severely allergic to MSG and died from anaphylactic shock after inadvertently eating it. > > I know you said “sensitivities” rather than “allergies,” but attitudes such as yours are reprehensible. I don’t dispute that a lot of people’s reactions to MSG are indeed imaginary, but some people do have legitimate and life threatening allergies to the stuff. You can’t assume that that somebody who says “no MSG” is a drama queen. Even if they do have a sensitivity rather than an allergy, it may well be real. > > And now I’ll offer something in the “I perhaps shouldn’t reveal this” category–wanna know how my friend died? She was EATING IN A CHINESE RESTAURANT!!! :smack: :smack: :smack: Her MSG allergies were well-established at that point. She had had several episodes of severe anaphylaxis previously and traveled armed with epinepherine. The Chinese restaurant assured her there was no MSG in the food. I always assumed that the people at the restaurant were being sincere, but some bottled ingredient was mislabeled or something. Whether they actually knew or didn’t know that they were giving her MSG is irrelevant, though, because it should be entirely obvious to anyone with a quarter of a brain that if you’re genuinely allergic to MSG, you should stay away from Chinese restaurants. It was one of the stupidest fucking deaths ever. Green Bean, for purposes of record and clarity on this post, could you provide the name of your friend as well as the location of death, so we can check the coroner’s report? I have never heard of a confirmed report of death due to MSG consumption and would like to see what the findings in this case are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umami-kikkomans-spin-for-msg/500661.md?page=3)