by Kurt » Fri Sep 06, 2019 4:07 pm
MSG is just glutamine suspended in sodium so I am not bothered by it but there is food I have had where MSG is the predominant flavor (usually Chop Suey in the US). The traditional chinese cooks who adopted it will tend to use less than 1 gram of the stuff in a dish that serves 4 and that is how I try to use it as well.
That said, we do allow some horrible additives, like coal tar based food coloring which is only legal in the EU when it comes with a warning and here in the US it is in bread and pickles. The amount of yellow #5 in a typical hamburger is staggering. I discovered I had a reaction to the stuff when I quit smoking and sucked on Jolly Ranchers to alleviate withdrawal and I broke out. So I knew I was allergic to something so I gave up hard candy and then it started again and I looked at things like corn chips, pickles and bread and it was all yellow #5. I finally became reaction free when I became one of those food allergy dicks in restaurants.
I try to bake my bread whenever possible. It is quite easy to do but is a matter of routine rahter than skill.
I drink the expensive stuff and cook with the cheap stuff. No hangovers yet but I have not done the traditional Chinese method of drinking tons of little shots during a meal after each toast. Apparently the flavor plus intoxication plus Sichuan food is really quite an enjoyable event.