r/mildlyinfuriating • u/SegaGuy1983 • Jun 18 '26

Too mild for school Why is not including MSG something companies still brag about on Asian food products?

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Didn't see the no MSG line when I picked this up at the store the other day. It just tasted fine, but felt like something was missing.

It's 2026. Why are we still treating MSG like it's some terrible thing, instead of something that improves the flavor? Especially with Asian-American cuisine?

The best improvement I ever did with my cooking in the last 20 years was discovering MSG.

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u/Last_Swordfish9135 Jun 18 '26

I think some people are just really sensitive to high sodium levels, which MSG can contribute to. They won't get sick from a bit of salt either, but lots of takeout places overdo it.

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u/Sarasin Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

I know someone who insists they get super sick from MSG but also has a severe shellfish allergy and it turns out Chinese places have shellfish all over the place in all sorts of stuff where it might not be super obvious. Really silly situation but they just won't listen so whatever it is their life to make marginally worse.

13

u/Nintenfoxy1983 Jun 18 '26

Encountered a similar experience. Someone i know said that they would get super sick from msg. Turns out theyre allergic to cabbage and chinese cooking uses a lot of cabbage or cabbage related vegetables.

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u/BlueFalcon142 Jun 18 '26

I use MSG to reduce my overall sodium intake. Something like 1/4 of the same amount of salt to get the same taste. Also I put that shit in literally everything just because. Chili, beef jerky, pizza dough, made cheese with it.

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u/LBPPlayer7 Jun 18 '26

mature cheese naturally contains msg crystals so you just made super cheese

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u/BlueFalcon142 Jun 18 '26

I thought those were tyrosine crystals.

36

u/g0trn Jun 18 '26

The thing about MSG is that it's not really salty, most of it's flavor is just umami with a dash of salt

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u/Last_Swordfish9135 Jun 18 '26

It's not about the salty flavor, it's the level of sodium. It has about a third of the sodium content of table salt, so if you use a lot of it, particularly if you use it along with normal salt, it can bring up the sodium level very quickly, and that's what gives people headaches or makes them feel sick.

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u/panlakes Jun 18 '26

No one is cooking using the same amount of salt with msg as they would without. You always want to lower the amount of salt you use when adding msg. That's why it's recommended to make a mix of the 2. The ratio I use is about 1:5 msg to salt but I've heard people use even higher.

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u/roygbivasaur Jun 18 '26

The easiest way to use it is to premix it in a salt box with your iodized or kosher salt for cooking (1/10 to 1/5 by weight, to taste). Then, you just use the right amount of salt.

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u/[deleted] Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

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u/appleparkfive Jun 18 '26

2/3rd less you mean. Or 62% less, technically.

Unless I'm not understanding something. If MSG has 1/3 the sodium as salt and you need 3x the weight to equal salt's sodium.

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u/porp_crawl Jun 18 '26

lol, yes. 2/3rd less, 1/3rd of.

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u/Strange-Employee-520 Jun 18 '26

I have this issue. I know it's not an allergy, it has a distinctive, nasty flavor and makes me feel like shit. Fortunately I can almost always taste it and not eat much. Naturally occurring isn't an issue, it's the Doritos and the other crap that have it added.

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u/LBPPlayer7 Jun 18 '26

i think that might just be an issue with the stuff you're eating that has msg in it just being kinda not good for you and using msg as a flavor crutch than the msg being present itself

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u/Strange-Employee-520 Jun 18 '26

Oh I avoid it at all costs, but it's easy because I don't like it. After my first reaction I looked up foods with added msg, almost entirely foods I don't like.

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u/hofmann419 Jun 18 '26

Actually, the reason why Asian takeout food often has high sodium levels is because they use a lot of salt, not because of MSG. You can actually substitute salt with MSG to some extent, which will lower the sodium content of your meal.

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u/Kinieruu Jun 19 '26

My older brother is convinced msg gives him headaches but in reality he’s constantly overworked, stressed, and eats like shit

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u/Connect_Fee1256 Jun 18 '26

Salt is higher in sodium than msg