9 in 10 Restaurants Use Flavor Enhancer
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
If you feel out of sorts after dining out and think the restaurant may have used chemical seasoning, the chances are very high that you are right, as more than 90 percent of restaurant use such additives.
Chinese restaurants here use twice as much monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) as Korean ones, according to a recent study.
According to the Korean Foundation for Environmental Movement and Seoul city, 93.7 percent of the 300 Korean and Chinese restaurants and snack eateries said they use chemical enhancers.
Some 42 percent also used several seasoning products together. More than 72 percent said they do so to enhance the taste of their food as easily at possible.
MSG is the main ingredient used in flavor enhancing. However, it is reported that consuming large amounts of MSG can lead to such reactions as chest pain, nausea and facial tightness.
The surveyed restaurants used an average 3.85 kilograms of additives per month. Chinese restaurants were using 6.57 kilograms, more than twice that of Korean restaurants at 2.88 kilograms.
The World Health Organization recommends an adult consume less than 6 grams of MSG per day, and a child, less than 3 grams.
``In Western countries, people call symptoms of facial tightness and nausea after eating Chinese food `Chinese restaurant syndrome,' and we could see the reason of the syndrome through the research,'' a member of the foundation said.
``The U.S. Food and Drug Administration bans putting MSG in foods for newborn babies and recommends people with asthma, high blood pressure and allergies not to take the substance,'' she said.
Most of the restaurants used processed sauces, indicating the amount of MSG in their food may be greater as the sauces already contain additives when processed.
About 32 percent of restaurants using MSG said customers do not know the difference between foods with MSG and those without it, while 36.8 percent said customers prefer MSG-contained foods.
``But 45.7 percent of restaurants said they have decreased the amount of MSG in foods, so the use of flavor enhancers is likely to decrease along with the social trend focusing on health,'' the group member said.
The environment foundation held a campaign at Myeongdong in central Seoul Tuesday, the ``No MSG Day'' designated by the International Organization of Consumers' Union.