NOCTI Guide

One 1968 Letter Made America Fear MSG. Science Says Look at Your Salt

Nearly half of Americans avoided MSG last year. The fear traces back to one 1968 letter. Here's what the FDA and Europe actually say, and the real villain.

November 1, 2026 · Updated November 1, 2026 at 10:43 AM PST · 6 min read

Smiling doctor in a white coat and stethoscope beside a bold red MSG headline, on a NOCTI Health cover

Half of America is dodging a seasoning that's already in your parmesan

What do your grandma's pho, a slice of pizza and that fancy aged parmesan have in common? Glutamate, the exact flavor molecule people have feared for nearly 60 years. And the fear is still going strong. According to market researcher Mintel, as reported by FoodNavigator in July 2026, 45% of US consumers said they avoided MSG in the past year. Half of baby boomers did. So did 42% of Gen Z. So, fellas: is MSG actually wrecking your body, or did one strangely famous letter wreck MSG's reputation? Grab a fork. This one has plot twists.

One dinner, one letter, and 58 years of side-eye

The story starts in Japan. In 1908, chemist Kikunae Ikeda pulled glutamate out of kombu dashi, the kelp broth behind so much Japanese cooking, according to Ajinomoto, the company he went on to found. He'd found umami. Its powdered form, MSG, became a pantry staple across Asia, then the world. Then came April 1968. A Maryland doctor named Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. After eating at Chinese restaurants, he said, he felt a racing heart, weakness and numbness. He wondered whether the cause was salt, cooking wine or MSG, according to the Science History Institute. A month later, the journal printed 10 replies from other doctors. The media gave the whole thing a catchy, ugly name built around "Chinese restaurant." That label is now considered offensive, FoodNavigator notes. It pinned vague symptoms on a whole cuisine. The suspicion got passed down at family dinners for decades, like a recipe nobody fact-checked. So what happened when scientists actually checked?

Plot twist: your tomato is in on it

Here's the part that makes MSG panic hard to defend. Glutamate isn't some lab-only villain. The FDA says it occurs naturally in foods like tomatoes and cheese. And the math is wild. According to the FDA, the average adult eats about 13 grams of glutamate a day just from protein in food. Added MSG? Around 0.55 grams a day. Your steak and cheese do the heavy lifting. The shaker is a rounding error. When you digest protein, it releases free glutamate that is "chemically the same as the glutamate in MSG," the FDA says. Chemistry doesn't check the label. And the agency classifies added MSG as "generally recognized as safe." So why do some guys swear it gives them a headache?

“Good food doesn't need a villain. It needs a cook who reads labels.” — NOCTI

"But I get a headache!" Fair. Here's the dose

Some people really do feel something. It's about dose. In the 1990s, an independent panel called FASEB reviewed the evidence for the FDA. It concluded MSG is safe, but noted that some sensitive people may get short, mild symptoms like headache or tingling after eating 3 grams or more without food, according to the FDA. A typical serving with added MSG has under half a gram, the agency says. That sensitive group is small. A University Hospitals dietitian puts it at fewer than 1% of people, and says that for most people who blame MSG, no evidence directly links their symptoms to it. Europe ran its own numbers. In 2017, the European Food Safety Authority set a safe daily intake of 30 mg per kilogram of body weight, according to NutraIngredients. For a 175-pound guy, that's roughly 2.4 grams a day. EFSA linked headaches to about 86 mg per kilogram and a rise in blood pressure to about 150 mg per kilogram. For that same guy, that's roughly 6.8 grams and 12 grams. That's a lot of seasoning. One more myth down: a study cited by FoodNavigator found people with asthma did no worse on MSG than on placebo. So MSG isn't the bad guy. But there is one.

The salty truth nobody puts on the menu

The real villain at the table is sodium, and here MSG plays an unexpected role. MSG has about one-third of the sodium of table salt, according to University Hospitals. A 2019 study in the journal Nutrients, which used US national survey data from 16,183 people, found that swapping some salt for glutamates could cut sodium by 25% to 40% in certain foods. Across the whole population, that worked out to about a 3% drop in sodium intake, and 7% to 8% for people who eat salty foods like cured meats. Full disclosure: Ajinomoto funded that study. The same researchers note that about 90% of Americans already go over the 2,300 mg daily sodium limit in the Dietary Guidelines. The catch? A pinch of MSG doesn't cancel a bag of chips. Mintel analyst Neha Srivastava told FoodNavigator that MSG foods are "often heavily processed, with unhealthy nutrition profiles characterised by high levels of sodium or fat." Translation: the problem usually isn't the umami. It's the ultra-processed company it keeps.

NOCTI's take: Stop blaming the shaker, start reading the label

Our opinion, served hot. MSG has been the scapegoat of the spice rack for almost six decades, and a lot of that blame came with a side of bias against Asian food. Meanwhile, sodium and ultra-processed snacks get a free pass. If you grew up with MSG in your family kitchen, you don't owe anyone an apology for your mom's soup. But "MSG is safe" is not a hall pass to live on instant noodles. Eat like a grown man: real food, plenty of plants, salt and MSG in amounts that make food taste good, not taste like a dare.

How to use MSG like you know what you're doing

1. Swap, don't stack. If you add a pinch of MSG, cut back on the salt. That's where the sodium savings live. 2. Keep it to a pinch. A typical serving with added MSG has under half a gram, per the FDA. You don't need a scoop. 3. If you react, track it. Notice symptoms after a big MSG meal on an empty stomach? Avoid large amounts in one sitting and check labels. In the US, added MSG has to be listed as "monosodium glutamate," the FDA says. If symptoms are strong or keep coming back, see a doctor. 4. Watch your total sodium, especially if your blood pressure runs high. University Hospitals dietitian Jennifer Kerner says people on a low-sodium diet "should be limiting their sodium intake, regardless of the source." 5. Get your umami from real food too. Tomatoes, mushrooms, aged cheese and seaweed bring flavor plus real nutrition.

“Season like a chef. Eat like a grown man.” — NOCTI

Pop quiz before you go

Name a plant that's naturally loaded with umami. Drop your guess in the comments. Answers: ripe tomatoes, mushrooms like shiitake and porcini, kombu seaweed and fermented soy sauce. Umami was in your salad the whole time. The bottom line: MSG isn't the monster from the 1968 letter. Too much salt and too much processed food are the bigger problem. Building your care team? Find independent professionals and men-welcoming businesses at joinnocti.com/discover. This article is for general information and isn't medical advice.

SourcesFoodNavigator, Ajinomoto +5 more

Find men’s massage near you

Compare local providers privately and contact the professional you choose directly.

Search NOCTI