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by sonotmyname 2009 days ago
> Given that in the west it was also dubbed "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" I would think some form of prejudice played a part.

Given that 60 years ago the only place anyone in the US would run into manufactured MAG was in a Chinese restaurant, calling it that doesn’t seem the least bit related to race.

And given that I’ve grown up in Canada and the US, eat Chinese food regularly, and have never heard this term before today, it seems incredibly overblown.

1 comments

In Switzerland, some of the people most concerned about MSG in their Chinese food grew up in households where pretty much the only seasoning used was Aromat. You would also find it next to the pepper and salt shakers in simpler restaurants for decades. Aromat is mostly MSG, and yet, no cases of "Swiss Restaurant Syndrome" are known in the medical literature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromat

At least the Swiss own their MSG addiction and are listing Aromat as part of their "culinary heritage": https://www.patrimoineculinaire.ch/Produits#449