Chinese restaurant syndrome is probably all in your head. The term, coined in a 1968 letter to a medical journal, refers to the notion that glutamate and the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG), popular in Asian cuisine, can trigger headaches. Now, more than 40 years later, scientists at the Center of Excellence for Food Safety Research in Malaysia have concluded from a sweeping survey of the scientific evidence that glutamate and MSG are safe. Despite a widespread belief that glutamate can elicit asthma, migraine headache and Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, the reviewers write, there are no consistent clinical data to support this claim. In addition, findings from the clinical literature indicate that there is no consistent evidence to suggest that individuals may be uniquely sensitive to glutamate.TO LEARN MORE: Appetite, online before print dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.appet.2010.05.002
