Doctors Insist MSG Doesn't Sicken Eaters

WASHINGTON Some doctors say they've debunked the theory that theflavor enhancer MSG makes people sick, but they can't find anotherculprit because their patients don't believe them.

"They're never going to get the proper treatment if they hangtheir hat on MSG," said Dr. Daryl Altman of Allergy InformationServices in Lynbrook, N.Y.

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, has been used in Oriental cookingfor nearly 2,000 years but also is commonly found in everything fromtomato sauce to snack chips. It is a version of glutamic acid, oneof 20 amino acids naturally present in nearly all protein.

In 1968, a doctor who experienced temporary numbness andweakness after eating Chinese food labeled the symptoms "Chineserestaurant syndrome" and speculated that MSG, cooking wine or excesssalt could be to blame.

Early studies said MSG was the culprit, but in 1980 scientistsbegan reversing that opinion. Now the largest study of the issuesays MSG is innocent.

An Australian chemist, Dr. Len Tarasoff of the University ofWestern Sydney, randomly fed 71 people various doses of MSG and aplacebo for five days. He told participants he was studyingingredients in a new soft drink, and fed them either capsules or agrapefruit-like drink before a standardized breakfast.

Fifteen percent reported some symptoms after ingesting the MSG -but so did 14 percent after taking the placebo, said his report inthe British journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.

But an unknown number of Americans still blame MSG for symptomsranging from headaches and flushing to numbness and dizziness.

A group of patients asked the Food and Drug Administration torequire more stringent labeling of MSG in foods. An FDA advisorycommittee considering their complaints was supposed to decide theissue this month, but has postponed its report until May.

Among other things, it is looking at the new Australian study.

Researchers, meanwhile, are having trouble finding out what elsecould be causing these people's complaints.

"It's frustrating," said Dr. Steve Taylor, head of food scienceat the University of Nebraska. "You can't make them. . .gettested.