Um, Chick-Fil-A Uses MSG In Its Food And It Might Be Why You're So Obsessed (2024)

FAQs

Does Chick-fil-A really use MSG? ›

While MSG is present in some of our menu offerings as a flavor enhancer, we also offer a variety of options that do not contain added MSG. To help our customers make informed decisions, we provide ingredient statements on the Chick-fil-A app or on your local restaurant's menu page.

"Part of this important commitment is fully removing MSG from our menu and we're proud to say that our plan is to have this complete by the end of this year." Is Chick-fil-A on the same track? TODAY also reports that the company is aware that some folks may have adverse reactions to the ingredient.

Chefs are also on board, leaning on MSG to boost flavor in both sweet and savory dishes like roast chicken, caramel sauce, and burgers. The exact flavor of MSG can be hard to pinpoint, but rather it adds pure umami — one of the five basic tastes along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

A popular seasoning and flavor enhancer, MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is the purest form of umami, the fifth taste. MSG (monosodium glutamate) is widely used to intensify and enhance umami flavors in sauces, broths, soups and many more foods.

In many countries MSG goes by the name “China salt”. Beside its flavour enhancing effects, MSG has been associated with various forms of toxicity (Figure 1(Fig. 1)). MSG has been linked with obesity, metabolic disorders, Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, neurotoxic effects and detrimental effects on the reproductive organs.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer often added to restaurant foods, canned vegetables, soups, deli meats and other foods. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified MSG as a food ingredient that's generally recognized as safe.

An excessive consumption of MSG can cause a "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" and gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers. Therefore, the maximum dose of MSG should be reconsidered taking into account its influence on the secretory capacity of the stomach.

There's a popular misconception that MSG is particularly bad for your health. The FDA and other expert organizations generally regard MSG as safe in moderation.

Condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, mustard, and salad dressings have been known to contain MSG to boost flavor. Many types of chips and related snacks include MSG to enhance the salty, savory flavors that they're known for.

Here's the good news: MSG contains two-thirds less the amount of sodium compared to table salt, so if you're looking to lower your sodium intake, reaching for MSG to flavor your food can help you eat less sodium.

Does McDonald's use MSG? ›

McDonald's does not add MSG (monosodium glutamate) to its food, but they do use ingredients like hydrolyzed vegetable protein in several products.

MSG contains only one-third the amount of sodium as table salt. Also, MSG amplifies and enhances the flavor of foods – whether it is naturally occurring or added to foods. The glutamate interacts with our taste buds, giving foods the umami, or savory, flavor.

Chick-fil-A sources real, whole, boneless breast of chicken with no added fillers, steroids or hormones, so its natural flavor shines. We're committed to serving chicken with No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine (NAIHM).

It also has an equally familiar-sounding ingredient: monosodium glutamate, or MSG. McDonald's doesn't currently use MSG in the other items that compose its regular, nationally available menu—but both Chick-fil-A and Popeyes list it as an ingredient in their own chicken sandwiches and chicken filets.

Since symptoms related to MSG do not involve the immune system, it cannot be called a true allergy. Most doctors have ruled it a sensitivity instead of an allergy, much like a gluten sensitivity. The sensitivity has often been called 'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome' and 'MSG Sensitivity Syndrome.