Is MSG in Snacks Safe? What the Science Actually Says

The Three Letters That Scare Snack Shoppers

MSG. Three letters that have sparked more dinner-table debates than pineapple on pizza. If you've ever flipped a snack packet over, spotted monosodium glutamate on the label, and put the packet back on the shelf, you're not alone. The fear of MSG runs deep — but where did it come from, and does the science actually back it up?

As a snack brand that uses MSG and labels it plainly, we at Chippity Co think it's worth having an honest conversation about what MSG is, what it isn't, and why the panic around it doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

Where the MSG Myth Began

The story starts in 1968, when a doctor named Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote a letter — not a study, a letter — to the New England Journal of Medicine. He described feeling numbness, weakness, and heart palpitations after eating at Chinese restaurants, and speculated that MSG might be the cause. The journal published it, the media ran with it, and "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" entered the public vocabulary almost overnight.

No controlled experiment. No peer review. Just one person's anecdote in a letter to the editor. Yet that single letter shaped public perception for over fifty years.

What Happened When Scientists Actually Tested It

In the decades since, researchers have conducted numerous double-blind, placebo-controlled studies — the gold standard of scientific evidence. The results have been remarkably consistent:

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies MSG as "Generally Recognised as Safe" (GRAS), the same category as salt, pepper, and vinegar.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation have reviewed the evidence and found no basis for limiting MSG intake in the general population.
• A comprehensive 1995 report by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), commissioned by the FDA, found that MSG is safe for most people at typical consumption levels.
• Multiple blinded studies have shown that people who claim MSG sensitivity cannot reliably distinguish MSG from a placebo when they don't know which one they're consuming.

Glutamate Is Everywhere — Including Your Favourite Foods

Here's something that surprises most people: glutamate, the active component in MSG, is one of the most common amino acids in nature. Your body produces it. Breast milk contains it. And it's abundant in many foods we eat daily without a second thought:

• Parmesan cheese — up to 1,680 mg of free glutamate per 100 g
• Ripe tomatoes — about 250 mg per 100 g
• Soy sauce — roughly 900 mg per 100 g
• Seaweed (kombu) — up to 3,000 mg per 100 g
• Mushrooms — around 180 mg per 100 g

That savoury, mouth-coating deliciousness you taste in a rich tomato sauce or a bowl of miso soup? That's glutamate doing its job. MSG is simply glutamate paired with sodium — the same way table salt is chloride paired with sodium. Your body processes both forms of glutamate identically.

So Why Does the Fear Persist?

A few reasons. The original "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" story was catchy and easy to remember. Confirmation bias does the rest — if you believe MSG makes you feel unwell, you'll notice every headache after a hawker centre meal and attribute it to MSG, while ignoring the headache you got after a tomato-heavy pasta (which contained just as much glutamate).

There's also a less comfortable truth: much of the anti-MSG panic has roots in xenophobia and suspicion of Asian cooking. Researchers and food historians have written extensively about how the myth disproportionately targeted Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines while giving Western foods a free pass. Parmesan and Doritos never got the same scrutiny.

Why Toro Chips Uses MSG — and Tells You About It

At Chippity Co, we use a small amount of MSG in our Toro Chips seasoning. It enhances the natural umami of the wild-caught tuna and rounds out the flavour profile. We could leave it out, but the chip wouldn't taste as good — and we'd rather make a delicious product honestly than a mediocre one that scores marketing points.

What we won't do is hide it. You'll find MSG listed clearly on our ingredients panel, not tucked away behind vague phrases like "natural flavouring" or "yeast extract." We think you deserve to know exactly what's in your food and make your own informed choice.

What Else Is in the Bag

Beyond the seasoning, every 80 g serving of Toro Chips gives you:

• 17.4 g of protein from 70% wild-caught tuna
• 544 mg of DHA omega-3 for brain and heart health
• No pork, no lard, no preservatives

Muslim-friendly, clearly labelled, and made with ingredients we're proud to list in full.

The Bottom Line

MSG is one of the most thoroughly studied food ingredients on the planet, and the scientific consensus is clear: it's safe. The myth was born from a single letter, amplified by media hype and cultural bias, and has been contradicted by decades of rigorous research.

We'd rather spend our energy making a genuinely nutritious tuna chip than playing ingredient hide-and-seek on the label. If you're ready for a snack that's honest about what's inside, give Toro Chips a try.

Shop Toro Chips at chippity.co — real ingredients, clearly labelled, no games.