MSG IS BACK IN FLAVOR

Chefs sing praise

O-M-S-G. After years spent defending the use of monosodium glutamate, some of the Big Apple’s trendiest chefs are celebrating the once-shamed flavor enhancer. At Bonnie’s in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, chef Calvin Eng proudly slips the much-maligned amino additive into everything from the Cantonese-American main courses to martinis. It even sells pro-MSG merchandise.

Lower in sodium than table salt and considered to improve the taste of everything it touches, MSG occurs naturally in common foods like tomatoes and cheese. It is a key ingredient in all-American favorites like Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup, Chick-fil-A sandwiches and Doritos.

However, Asian restaurants have battled anti-MSG sentiment for decades. Considered to have xenophobic origins, the notion dates back to the late 1960s, when reports of diners reacting badly after consuming the then-typically secret ingredient gave rise to something termed “Chinese-restaurant syndrome.”

And while an article detailing the so-called illness in a prominent medical journal at the time was later reported to be a hoax, MSG’s reputation has suffered ever since. Eng wants to change all that. “A big part of our mission from the beginning was to educate our guests as to what Cantonese food is and what it can be,” Eng told The Post. “That’s also an opportunity to educate people that MSG is not bad for you — it’s literally a naturally occurring thing.”

Chris Cheung, owner of popular Brooklyn restaurant East Wind Snack Shop, told The Post he’s been “berated” for using it in his food. “As a chef, I see it as a wonderful cooking item that enhances a lot of the flavors and is integral to a lot of dishes,” he said.

Taking into account the lingering anxiety, Cheung will sometimes soft-pedal for skittish customers. “I’ll call it ‘Magic Seasoning Granules,’ because it is really part of the magic of cooking,” he said. “Sometimes you need to break the ice with people.”

While chefs charge ahead, the medical community takes a more conservative approach.

The Mayo Clinic says that while MSG is “generally recognized as safe,” it does caution that the FDA has “received many reports” of reactions including headaches and tingling sensations.

“For at least 1% of the population, MSG sensitivity is very real, so if you do feel ill within a couple of hours of consuming foods containing MSG, then something is going on that definitely can’t be ignored ,” Dr. Gill Hart, a food-intolerance expert at the sensitivity testing company York Test, told The Post.

Hart added, however, that the research is ongoing.