MSG recipes are popular on social media. Is the ingredient safe?

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Does the flavor enhancer called MSG make some people feel sick?

Chinese egg fried rice, Vietnamese chicken noddle soup, even salads and popcorn — there is a proliferation of recipes on TikTok using monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as MSG, a flavor enhancer that gives food that savory taste known as umami.

While extensive research has shown the ingredient to be safe, people have debated for years whether it causes side effects in a small subset of eaters. The Food and Drug Administration requires foods with added MSG to list it on food packaging labels.

But most experts say the ingredient has been wrongly maligned and concerns about MSG have been overstated. It also may be the ultra-processed or commercially prepared foods that contain added MSG that may make some people feel unwell, said Denise Millstine, an internist at Mayo Clinic who specializes in integrative medicine.

Monosodium glutamate is the sodium salt of a common amino acid called glutamic acid, which is found in both plant and animal proteins, said Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, president and CEO of the International Food Information Council. Glutamic acid is found naturally in many foods that we eat every day, including in tomatoes, cheeses, nuts, mushrooms, seafood and meats. MSG is produced through fermentation using certain ingredients such as starch, sugar beets, sugar cane or molasses, and it contains about one-third of the sodium found in table salt.

MSG is "an excellent flavor enhancer that when used in moderation similar to salt or sugar or various fats, can elevate a dish and is a safe way to bring that fifth sense, taste — that umami, that kind of meaty, delicious, almost hard-to-pinpoint flavor to certain foods," said Katherine Basbaum, a clinical dietitian at the University of Virginia Health System.

It's not completely understood why some people experience adverse reactions after consuming foods with MSG, said Katherine Zeratsky, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Mayo Clinic.

In the 1990s, the FDA enlisted a group of independent scientists to study the safety of the seasoning. The scientists noted that people who are sensitive to MSG may experience short-term, temporary and non-life-threatening symptoms such as headaches, chest pain, palpitations and numbness and tingling, when consuming high levels of the ingredient — 3 grams or more without food. Most people would never eat that much. (A typical serving of added MSG in foods is less than 0.5 grams.)

While considered rare, some people may develop one or more in a constellation of symptoms known as MSG symptom complex, which may include headaches, muscle aches, numbness and tingling, flushing, heart palpitations and drowsiness, among other things. The symptoms typically are mild, short term and go away without treatment.

These symptoms, experts said, are not recognized as an allergy but more of a sensitivity or adverse reaction similar to what some people may experience after drinking alcohol or caffeine.

"In almost every ingredient that's in the human food supply, whether it's natural or synthetic, there may be some people who have a sensitivity or an adverse reaction," said Roger Clemens, an adjunct professor of pharmaceutical sciences and associate director of the regulatory science program at the University of Southern California. "If you look at the population at large, the answer is: It remains to be safe."

In a 2000 study of 130 participants who believed they were sensitive to MSG, participants were given 5 grams of MSG without food, a placebo or both. None of the participants knew which one they were getting.

Nearly 39 percent reported a positive response of two or more symptoms from the MSG, the top two symptoms being headache and muscle tightness. Another 13 percent reported similar responses to the placebo and nearly 15 percent reported a response to both. In further testing, increasing doses elicited an increased frequency of response for some symptoms for some participants, but the responses were inconsistent during retesting.

What else you should know:

Questions about the safety of MSG arose, at least in part, in 1968 after a biomedical researcher sent a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine describing various symptoms he would experience after eating at Chinese restaurants, including "numbness at the back of the neck, gradually radiating to both arms and the back, general weakness and palpitation." He suggested that the symptoms may be caused by the monosodium glutamate seasoning or the high sodium content of the food.

Although later studies largely debunked concerns about MSG, the damage had been done, and the perception that MSG commonly makes people sick persists today.

Health authorities and experts say that most people can enjoy MSG without worrying about side effects. However, people who believe they are sensitive to it or have been told to restrict sodium, may want to ask their health-care provider if they should avoid MSG.