
Pure umami: should we learn to love MSG?
May 16, 2021
Monosodium Glutamate is probably one of the most contentious ingredients in modern food. Increasingly there have been calls to tackle the stigma attached to it especially as this has been linked to Chinese restaurants and people with East Asian heritage. In this programme Leyla Kazim aims to demystify MSG. She looks into where it came from, what it is and how it became so demonised…

(Adam Ragusea)
MSG is neither terribly dangerous nor perfectly okay
Adam Ragusea, YouTube February 3, 2020.
The public health hysteria around MSG is just that… I’m pretty sure what I just said to you is true?

Putting the ‘mmm’ back in MSG
Sarah Elton, Maclean’s magazine, August 16, 2016.
On hip restaurant menus and recipes, a maligned additive is making a comeback…

Lady Bird Shows that it’s Okay for Women to Be Hungry
Ruby Lott-Lavigna, Munchies February 26, 2018.
Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated film tells the story of Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson, a 17-year-old who takes—and eats—exactly what she wants..

“Making Sense: The Umami Mama”
March 23, 2022
For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to Kumiko Ninomiya (a.k.a. the Umami Mama), scientists finally accepted a fifth. So could there be even more?

On the Origin of the Word ‘Umami‘
Johanna Mayer, Science Friday, August 14, 2018.
There’s science behind deliciousness…

Cutting salt in Chinese takeout to curb heart disease
Nina Feldman, The PULSE WHYY Philadelphia October 11, 2018.
Philadelphia has a sodium problem. Almost 40 percent of all adults, and over half of African American adults have high blood pressure…
What is MSG, and is it actually bad for you?
Sarah E. Tracy, September 2021
In 1968, Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok felt ill after dinner at a Chinese restaurant and wrote a letter to a medical journal connecting his symptoms to MSG. His letter would change the world’s relationship with MSG, inspiring international panic, biased science and sensationalist journalism …