Walk into nearly any professional kitchen, peek behind the scenes at your favorite restaurant, or watch a cooking show where they don’t quite show you everything. There’s something happening that the culinary world doesn’t always talk about openly. An ingredient so powerful, so transformative, that it can turn ordinary food into something memorable. Yet for decades, it’s been shrouded in controversy, misconceptions, and honestly, a fair bit of stigma.
Let’s be real, the secret isn’t some exotic spice flown in from a remote mountainside or a rare herb that costs a fortune. It’s sitting in bulk containers in restaurant kitchens across the globe, quietly doing its job while chefs avoid mentioning it on menus or in interviews. The ingredient? Monosodium glutamate. MSG.
The Umami Bomb Nobody Wants to Talk About
MSG is used throughout the restaurant industry to lend food a savory, rich flavor, transforming everything from soups to sauces into something that makes your taste buds sing. MSG is the purest form of umami and is widely used to intensify and enhance umami flavors in sauces, broths, soups and many more foods. Professional chefs know this. They’ve always known this.
Think about that restaurant dish you can never quite replicate at home. You’ve tried the same ingredients, followed similar techniques, but something’s missing. That depth, that lingering savory quality that makes you want another bite. MSG is popular in restaurants because it quickly enhances flavors, and chefs use MSG as a secret ingredient to boost taste without overwhelming other seasonings.
At New York City restaurant Bonnie’s, almost all dishes contain MSG, and chef Calvin Eng openly states that things just taste better with MSG, whether it’s Western food or Cantonese food. Here’s someone willing to break the silence. The restaurant’s menu even includes a signature drink called the MSG Martini, and guess what? It’s become one of the hottest tables in New York since opening in late 2021, winning numerous Best New Restaurant awards.
Why the Silence Around This Flavor Enhancer
The reluctance to admit using MSG stems from a decades-old stigma that frankly has more to do with xenophobia than science. After a letter sparked decades of research over MSG and even created a dictionary entry for Chinese restaurant syndrome, current evidence shows that data in multiple studies has never found any evidence for toxicity of MSG.
Some chefs avoid using MSG because of the stigma associated with the ingredient, noting that their family’s Chinese restaurants pride themselves on not using MSG because the public has a sense that MSG usage is related to lesser-quality food. That perception? It’s completely disconnected from reality.
Even though science has cleared MSG’s name repeatedly, the damage to its reputation lingers. Restaurants worry about customer backlash, negative reviews, or being accused of taking shortcuts. So they stay quiet, using it behind closed doors while keeping it off their marketing materials.
Although Chinese dishes are often associated with MSG, many non-ethnic restaurants and fast-food joints also use MSG to flavor their food, and it’s found in many processed and packaged foods. From your favorite chicken sandwich to that incredible ramen bowl, MSG is everywhere. You’ve been eating it all along.
The Science That Backs Up the Taste
MSG is made from sodium and L-glutamic acid, a nonessential amino acid that occurs naturally in umami-rich foods like tomatoes, anchovies, mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese, and was first extracted from seaweed broth by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. Honestly, when you understand that glutamate exists naturally in foods we eat daily, the fear around it starts to seem absurd.
MSG intensifies and enhances umami flavors in soups, sauces, and broths, and while it doesn’t taste like anything on its own, it lends a savory, meaty flavor to foods, making it popular for both restaurant and home chefs. It’s essentially a concentrated version of something already present in delicious food.
Government organizations around the world have listed MSG as safe to eat, including the FDA which lists MSG as generally recognized as safe, noting that in studies with individuals given MSG or a placebo, scientists have not been able to consistently trigger reactions. The evidence is overwhelming. Regulatory bodies from the FDA to the World Health Organization have examined the research thoroughly.
MSG contains only about one third of the sodium found in table salt, which means you can actually reduce sodium intake by using it instead of piling on more salt. For health-conscious cooking, that’s a significant advantage.
How Restaurants Actually Use It
MSG works well in dishes such as braised meats, tomato sauce, soup, eggs and vegetables, and chefs commonly like to use it at the end of the cooking process, whether finishing a stir fry or rounding out a slow cooked braise or sauce. The timing matters. Adding it at the right moment amplifies existing flavors without masking them.
Some restaurants add MSG to popular dishes including fried rice, and it’s used by franchises like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chick-fil-A to enhance the flavor of foods. Those crispy, impossibly flavorful fast food favorites? Yeah, MSG is part of the equation. The chains know what works.
Professional kitchens don’t just throw it in randomly. A pinch of MSG goes a long way, and it brings out the best flavors in any dish, working particularly well to elevate flavors in seafood dishes. Precision is key. Too much and you risk overdoing it, but just the right amount creates magic.
MSG is generally used to make food more flavorful, and various restaurants have different regulations, but it’s typical for cooks to liberally use MSG in anything from noodle meals to stir-fries and soups. It’s become second nature in many kitchens, as routine as reaching for salt or pepper.
What Chefs Say Privately Versus Publicly
Talk to chefs off the record and you’ll hear a different story than what appears in interviews or on cooking shows. Many admit they use it, appreciate its effects, but feel pressured to downplay or hide that fact. The cognitive dissonance is real.
Some chefs find MSG to be an amazing ingredient but avoid it because they know some people may have adverse reactions, opting instead to use natural products like kelp and shiitake mushrooms for umami. That’s one approach, creating umami through ingredient layering rather than direct MSG addition. Both methods have merit.
Here’s the thing though. Anchovies are an open secret in professional kitchens, adding savory umami depth to numerous dishes from soups to sauces to stews, and can be laid whole onto lamb or beef joints where they melt in the oven, or chefs will use Worcestershire sauce or Asian fish sauce, both of which contain anchovies. Chefs have always used umami-rich ingredients strategically. MSG just happens to be the most concentrated, most efficient version.
The newer generation of chefs seems more willing to be transparent. They’re tired of the outdated stigma and want to reclaim MSG as a legitimate culinary tool. The tide is slowly shifting, but there’s still a long way to go before honesty becomes the industry standard.
The Hidden Presence in Everyday Meals
Frozen meals often contain MSG, with many companies that make frozen dinners adding it to improve the savory flavor, including frozen pizzas, mac and cheese, and frozen breakfast meals. Your convenient weeknight dinner? Probably has MSG.
Canned soups and soup mixes often have MSG added to intensify the savory flavor, with Campbell’s chicken noodle soup being perhaps the most popular soup product containing this additive. That comforting bowl of soup from childhood? Yeah, MSG was likely part of why it tasted so good.
Processed meats like hot dogs, lunch meats, beef jerky, sausages, smoked meats, and pepperoni can contain MSG, which is added to meat products like sausage to reduce sodium content without changing flavor. Even health-conscious reduced-sodium products often rely on MSG to maintain taste while cutting back on salt. The irony is rich.
Condiments like salad dressing, mayonnaise, ketchup, barbecue sauce, and soy sauce often contain added MSG. Check your refrigerator door right now. How many of those bottles and jars contain MSG? Probably more than you’d guess.
Breaking Down the Health Myths
Let’s address the elephant in the room. MSG has about one-third of the sodium found in table salt and occurs naturally in many foods from cheese and tomatoes to corn. If your body handles naturally occurring glutamate just fine in tomatoes and Parmesan, why would the isolated version be different?
Researchers say some people may be sensitive to MSG, but health authorities from the FDA to the World Health Organization have deemed MSG safe in the amounts found in food. The science is settled. Individual sensitivity exists for virtually any food substance, but that doesn’t make it universally harmful.
MSG is not an allergen and will not cause an allergic response, as our bodies make glutamate so it would not be possible to have an allergy to glutamate. That’s a crucial distinction. Sensitivity and allergy are completely different things.
Despite continued claims of negative reactions to MSG from diners, decades of scientific trials have failed to prove the existence of MSG sensitivity, with the FDA noting that in studies with such individuals given MSG or a placebo, scientists have not been able to consistently trigger reactions. When tested properly under controlled conditions, the supposed reactions disappear. That should tell us something.
Professional Techniques for Home Cooks
Using MSG is as simple as adding salt, as it dissolves quickly in both liquids and solids and can be used at any point in cooking, with just a small pinch needed while cooking or right before serving to enhance the savory flavor. If you’re curious about trying it yourself, start small. You can always add more but you can’t take it away.
MSG can be added to soups and broths while cooking, added to stir-fries right before serving, used in marinades to tenderize meat and improve flavor, mixed into sauces for umami boost, or sprinkled on snacks. The versatility is remarkable. Sweet, savory, somewhere in between? MSG can enhance it.
Natural umami seasoning works best when added toward the end of cooking to preserve delicate flavor compounds, starting with small amounts like a quarter teaspoon per serving and adjusting to taste, as it’s possible to overdo umami just like salt. Technique matters as much as the ingredient itself.
You don’t need to become dependent on it. Think of MSG as another tool in your culinary arsenal, alongside herbs, spices, acids, and fats. Used thoughtfully, it can elevate your cooking without becoming a crutch.
The Transparency Movement Gaining Ground
Some brave chefs are finally stepping out of the shadows. A number of celebrated chefs are now openly embracing MSG, with some even going so far as to promote it on their menus. This visibility matters. When respected culinary figures normalize MSG, it chips away at decades of misinformation.
Food writers and activists have joined the cause too, publishing articles and giving talks about the racist origins of MSG fear. The conversation is shifting from “is MSG safe” to “why did we believe it wasn’t for so long.” That’s progress, even if it’s slower than some would like.
Social media has played an interesting role. Younger food enthusiasts seem less burdened by old stigmas and more interested in practical flavor enhancement. TikTok chefs casually reach for MSG in their cooking videos, treating it no differently than any other seasoning. Normalization through exposure.
Restaurants are starting to follow suit, though cautiously. Some mention umami enhancement on menus without specifying MSG. Others have started including it in ingredient lists for transparency. Baby steps toward full honesty, but steps nonetheless.
The Economics Behind Kitchen Secrets
There’s a financial incentive for restaurants to stay quiet about MSG beyond just reputation concerns. If customers knew how simple some flavor enhancement techniques were, would they still pay premium prices? Part of dining out is the mystique, the magic you can’t replicate at home.
MSG bridges the gap between good and great food efficiently and affordably. A chef can take decent ingredients and, with proper technique plus strategic MSG use, create dishes that taste expensive. That’s valuable in a competitive market where margins are razor-thin.
Supply costs have risen dramatically in recent years. In 2025 the USDA predicts an overall increase of food costs by roughly 1.6 percent. Every tool that helps maintain quality while controlling costs becomes essential. MSG fits that bill perfectly.
The paradox is that customers say they want transparency but also want to believe restaurant food has some indefinable quality they can’t achieve at home. Chefs walk a tightrope between honesty and preserving that culinary mystique.
