The Ultimate Glutamate Industry Research Trick is to design a study from which the authors will conclude that there is no difference between experimental (test) groups given monosodium glutamate, and control groups given placebos.

The trick is to choose subjects carefully, make sure that test and placebo materials will produce the right results, and set up procedures that 1) will minimize the chance that subjects will react to the monosodium glutamate test material, and 2) will increase the chance that subjects will react to the placebo.

Basic design:

Identify a basic design to be used to evaluate differences between two or more groups, and from the available tests, choose a design with a sophisticated, elegant, impressive sounding name.  Anyone who has had college statistics has heard of the t-test, and might even understand its underlying assumptions.  Choose something more sophisticated.  Use a "randomized double-blind crossover" design. The casual reader may get the impression that subjects were drawn randomly from the general population, even though that would not be true.

Subjects:  Not all people experience adverse reactions from MSG.  If you use people in your study who do not experience adverse reactions from MSG, you will find that none of the people you test will have adverse reactions to MSG.  So if you don't want people reacting to the MSG you give them, use people who do not react adversely to MSG.

Require that all of your subject be "well" people, i.e., people who have never had any of the reactions that can be caused by MSG.

Use placebos to which MSG-sensitive people would react (placebos containing monosodium glutamate, aspartame, citric acid, carageenan or enzymes, for example), test potential subjects for sensitivity to those placebos, and eliminate any subjects who react to the placebos. Researchers can be fairly certain that those who do not react to these reactive placebos will not react to their monosodium glutamate test material.

Offer several hundred dollars to students who agree to participate in a study – but only if they claim to be sensitive to MSG.  It is conceivable that students might lie about being sensitive to MSG for a prize of several hundred dollars.

Require that subjects offering to participate in the study give informed consent as part of the subject screening process. Describe the study as including "treatments that might contain flavor enhancers."  It is extremely unlikely that a person who knew he was sensitive to MSG would volunteer to participate in a study where he might be asked to ingest a flavor enhancer.  MSG is advertised as a flavor enhancer.

Test material: Use test material that will minimize any adverse effects of monosodium glutamate.

Use very little monosodium glutamate in the test material.

Use monosodium glutamate encased in capsules. One gram monosodium glutamate encased in capsules, and therefore guaranteeing slow release, will cause less effect than 1g monosodium glutamate sprinkled on food.

Use monosodium glutamate modified with sucrose. One gram monosodium glutamate modified with sucrose will cause less effect than otherwise because sucrose is known to slow monosodium glutamate uptake.

Use MSG in placebos, but use sources of MSG other than the ingredient called monosodium glutamate. Gelatin, which always contains free glutamic acid, is a good alternative.  Autolyzed yeast and citric acid are others.

Use a neurotoxic amino acid other than MSG.  Aspartic acid (found in the artificial sweetener aspartame) would be the neurotoxin of choice because aspartic acid causes reactions identical to the reactions caused by MSG. Aspartame contains phenylalanine (which adversely affects one in 15,000 Americans), aspartic acid (an excitatory amino acid), and a methyl esther. Aspartic acid and glutamic acid load on the same receptors in the brain, and cause the same brain damage and neuroendocrine disorders in experimental animals. With the exception of blindness related to aspartame ingestion, aspartame and MSG cause virtually identical adverse reactions in humans. There are over 7,000 unsolicited reports of adverse reactions to aspartame filed with the FDA.

Load placebo material into gelatin capsules.  Gelatin is more than 11 percent MSG.

Do not identify the ingredients in the placebos.

Make certain that the people sponsoring the research supply both monosodium glutamate test material and appropriate placebo material.

1) Cut down on the possible number of reactions to the monosodium glutamate test material.

Reactions to MSG are many and varied.  Limit the adverse effects to be accepted as adverse reactions to a few generally mild and transitory reactions occurring simultaneously, such as those first reported in 1968 by Kwok and dubbed "Chinese- restaurant syndrome" (CRS): "...numbness at the back of the neck, gradually radiating to both arms and the back, general weakness and palpitation."  By limiting the types of reaction that will be accepted as adverse reaction to MSG, some subjects will be reacting with reactions that won't be counted as reactions to monosodium glutamate.  (That's why the glutes refer to MSG reactions as "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.")  If the only reactions counted as adverse reaction are limited to those of "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome," subjects who get migraine headache, skin rash, or tachycardia, for example, will not be counted as having had reactions to the monosodium glutamate test material.

Reactions to MSG may occur immediately following ingestion of MSG or they may occur as late as 24 hours after ingestion of MSG.  By recording reactions as reactions to monosodium glutamate only if they occur 2 hours or less following ingestion of test material, reactions that occur later won't be recorded as reactions to MSG.

If subject are on medications that might block the effects of MSG, medications for asthma or migraine headache for example, be sure that those subjects continue to take their medications while participating in the experiment.

It has been reported that reactions to MSG are greater on an empty stomach.  Therefore, treat all subject to a breakfast or lunch prior starting the experiment.

Lace the placebos with material to which MSG-sensitive people will react.

Feed all subjects breakfast, snacks, and/or lunch to which MSG-sensitive people will react; and do that 2 hours or less before the placebo trial is given.  The MSG or other neurotoxic material in this food will be added to any MSG or other neurotoxic material in the placebo, and will increase the chances that a subject might react adversely to the placebo.

Make no attempt during a study to prevent subjects from ingesting food to which they might be allergic or sensitive.

Use such small numbers of subjects that no matter what the data show, it will be virtually impossible to get a statistically significant difference between test and placebo groups.

Space MSG and control sessions so the reactions might overlap.  This will virtually guarantee that some reactions to MSG will occur during the period following administration of the placebo.

Draw conclusions that do not follow from the results of the study. IGTC researchers have concluded, for example, that because approximately one third of their subjects reacted adversely to placebos containing MSG and/or aspartame, they have "proved" that reactions to MSG-containing test material are not reactions to MSG.  (In truth, all that they have demonstrated is that their placebo consuming subjects are sensitive to aspartame and/or MSG.)
 
 
 

adandjack@aol.com 858/481-9333 http://www.truthinlabeling.org

This page was last updated on February 18, 2008.

IF MSG ISN'T HARMFUL, WHY IS IT HIDDEN?