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How Do You Ask For No Msg In Your Food In Thai?


carlspencer

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two things that should never cross your lips into your mouth and those are aspartame and msg.

The "nun" in the school teaches their female Teenager pupils different, "things that should never cross your lips into your mouth"

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Mai sai, pong shoe rod (crap).

Mai ... tone ending up

sai ... tone ending up

pong ... tone neutral (even)

shoe ... tone neutral (even)

rod ... tone ending up

As for me ... I just get 'wacky dreams' if they pile it in, or I eat it late at night.

Hope that helps.

.

Thanks! yes that does help, I only hope now that the restaurants I go to will comply wai.gif

Therein lies the problem; getting them to "comply". I order food with no salt or sugar which the Thai's seem to love to pile on. One problem is habit and that means that even though you just requested that they do not to put MSG, Salt, or Sugar in your food; the cook instinctively reaches for what you just asked not to be added to your meal and they put it in anyway. If you happen to see them like I do at a food court or vendor where you can see what they are doing; their usual reaction is to get pissed off at me and complain that I am a trouble maker. It is never their fault!

I found a new noodle shop being built with a huge sign that read; "No MSG". Great; I thought I would be a regular because it was so close to where I live. Went in on opening day and ordered a bowl of noodles that had so much salt in it I never got past the first bite. The owner watched me leave the full bowl of noodles on the table as I left. 'Mai pen rai" she thought as she already had my money and after all; that is really what it is all about most of the time whether you are ordering food or something else. They have since gone out of business.

I go to a small Thai restaurant frequently because the old lady who runs the joint has diabetes and she herself avoids the same stuff that I don't want in my food either. The stuff she makes for me always tastes great without the salt, sugar and MSG.

I have also found a few street vendors who are clean and don't put those ingredients into the food either.

I love the fish soup in the food court at Terminal 21 but the ladyboy who serves it always reaches for the sugar even though I always remind him not to put any of it in; which always causes her/him to have a dramatic episode.

For me I just prefer to cook my own meals because then I know exactly how it was prepared.

As far as I an concerned we get too much salt and sugar even trying to avoid it so I certainly don't want the cook adding more of it.

If you are working in various parts of the city then just spend the time finding the vendors / restaurants that will agree to not use the MSG; and then stick with those few places for your meals.

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MSG is cumulative, to start with you might only feel drowsy after eating, followed by mood swings,

"mood swings" rolleyes.gif

Now I know! My GFs have to keep a No MSG diet!? Than the mood swinging unreasonable phases, will stop?

I doubt that! wink.png

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I just ate a big japanese meal in thonglor..japanese town It was full of msg and it was f ..ing delicious. Spoon it on I say.. ill just counter it with more beer

You can eat rat poison or powdered soap if you so choose. Up to you, dude.

The issue in this thread is restauranteurs putting a substance in food, with no prior warning or mention, which causes ill-effects for some eaters. Thai restaurant owners may have a hard time fathoming this, but IT'S NOT OK TO SLIGHTLY POISON SOME OF YOUR CLIENTS.

It could very possibly affect tourist numbers. Here's an imagined conversation between a group from, let's say, Holland:

"Where should we go for holiday this year? I'm thinking Thailand"

"Naw, me and Hans hate MSG, and Thai restaurants all use the stuff."

"Ok, no problem. How about Belize or Fiji?

So you are saying that all these chinese and japanese people are all ill, but are unaware that it comes from MSG?

Instead of putting words in my mouth, let me re-phrase it according to how I would say it: Chinese, Japanese, Africans, farang, Thai, whomever, ....who ingest MSG - many of them get headaches. Perhaps some of the headaches are not caused by MSG. Perhaps many of the headaches are caused by MSG. We don't know. What I do know is; a large majority of farang DO get headaches (and other bad symptoms) from ingesting even small amounts of MSG - so it stands to reason that others do also. We're the same species. Historically, people have suffered ill-effects from things and not known exactly what (or what combinations) caused it. Do you need me to articulate about that?

Edited by maidu
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Two recommendations, leave Thailand or cook your own food. Asking them not to put MSG in your food would never work and they will just smile and say OK and do absolutely nothing but serve the food with MSG.

What a totally ridiculous statement.

Like the supreme judge of the universe stereotyping all Thai people as deceitful.

Some day you may learn that all humans are human. Thai people are no more

deceitful that Brits or Americans or Peruvians.

Get a life!

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There is no such thing as an "allergy to MSG".

Broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, inosinate, guanylate, and autolyzed yeast extract, parmesan

cheese and a host of other foods are all sources of monosodium glutamate (MSG).Why do people

who are "allergic" to MSG not get any reactions to these foods ?

It is amazing what the mind can do to the body !

Dr Wanchai or maybe Dr <deleted>, it's fools like you that are supposed to be health professionals that constantly mis-diagnose...instead selling the usual goodie baggie of worthless tablets........

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I believe some folks are missing the point here and it is really quite simple:

The OP asked a question because he does not want any vendor / restaurant to put MSG in his food.

The last I heard the customer who is paying for the food should have the right to ask that MSG not be added to their meal.

This has nothing to do with people arguing about if MSG will kill you, give you a headache or make your erection last longer.

The vendor / restaurant should not care one iota and it is none of their business either.

If the customer says don't put it in the food; then don't put it in the food.

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I believe some folks are missing the point here and it is really quite simple:

The OP asked a question because he does not want any vendor / restaurant to put MSG in his food.

The last I heard the customer who is paying for the food should have the right to ask that MSG not be added to their meal.

This has nothing to do with people arguing about if MSG will kill you, give you a headache or make your erection last longer.

The vendor / restaurant should not care one iota and it is none of their business either.

If the customer says don't put it in the food; then don't put it in the food.

I guess you are from the USA where generally, you get what you ask for.

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I just get freaky drowsy and thirsty. I can consume it but not to much of it. Sent from my i-mobile i-note 2 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I get worse symptoms than that. Yet the hundreds of thousands of us who suffer ill-effects from MSG are of no concern to Thai chefs. Nothing will alter their cooking styles. Their attitude, which mirrors some who have posted here, is: "MSG doesn't bother me, so why should I care if it sickens a proportion of my restaurant clients. They won't feel ill until they've left the restaurant, and by that time, they've already paid their money for the meal. So, mai pen rai, suckers. They're probably faking their symptoms anyway."

P.S. never in the history of Siam or Thailand, has anyone ever rec'd a refund for a meal which sickened them. In contrast, here's a little story. Years ago I went to a California restaurant, and my gf and I both felt ill effects from some spinach (it probably had too much chemicals applied during its growing cycle). The next day, I mentioned it to the manager, who immediately offered us vouchers for two free meals. Could never happen in Thailand except maybe if the restaurant had a farang owner. The Thai attitude is: if you get sick from our food, that's your problem. Asking for a refund is a complete non-starter, and you'll only embarrass yourself by trying.

Another time, in Thailand, I received a cooked fish at a restaurant which was black inside. Being hungry, I ate half of it. Got sick as a dog that night. Going back the next day to the Chinese-Thai restaurant to complain, I got the expected run-around; "manager no here." "fish good, no ploblem" "sorry, no understand" .....etc.

Edited by maidu
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Funny this question....I normally ask for 'extra MSG' when I order food....wai.gif

Ok, and some folks will put five heaping tablespoons of white sugar in their coffee or, like my hill tribe g.f's - will spoon copious amounts of dried red pepper on anything that isn't supposed to be sweet. You ingest whatever you want, but do me a favor, if you're cooking for me, please don't put any MSG in my food. When it's my time to cook for you, I won't put any poisons in your food. Do we have a deal?

I can't believe that you have posted a serious reply to my sarcastic post.....!

P.S. anyone reading this thread - that has kids: Please please please (do I sound like James Brown?) Please don't expose them to MSG. It jangles their brain cells and contributes to hyperactivity, and tires them out when the effects wear off. You don't have to believe me, but just do it anyway, on a hunch or whatever. We're here to assist kids growing up. Let's not feed them stuff which is debilitating. Please?!

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Funny this question....I normally ask for 'extra MSG' when I order food....wai.gif

Ok, and some folks will put five heaping tablespoons of white sugar in their coffee or, like my hill tribe g.f's - will spoon copious amounts of dried red pepper on anything that isn't supposed to be sweet. You ingest whatever you want, but do me a favor, if you're cooking for me, please don't put any MSG in my food. When it's my time to cook for you, I won't put any poisons in your food. Do we have a deal?

P.S. anyone reading this thread - that has kids: Please please please (do I sound like James Brown?) Please don't expose them to MSG. It jangles their brain cells and contributes to hyperactivity, and tires them out when the effects wear off. You don't have to believe me, but just do it anyway, on a hunch or whatever. We're here to assist kids growing up. Let's not feed them stuff which is debilitating. Please?!

I can't believe you made a serious reply to my sarcastic post....never heard or humour Maidu ?

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Numerous and creditable studies recently have shown that SMG doesn't harm your health

what so ever, and there is nothing to worry about from consuming MSG in moderation,

further more, those studies have shown that 2 groups of diners could not tell the different between

dishes prepared with MSG to the dishes prepared with out,

and on a lighter note, if you do not wish to have MSG in your food you should ASK FOR MSG TO

BE ADDED TO YOUR FOOD, as normally, Thai cooks do the opposites of what I have asked for.

You must work for the food industry........MSG is cumulative, to start with you might only feel drowsy after eating, followed by mood swings, once you've reached this point, don't drink alcohol as it will trigger mean spiritness or worse, followed by shortness of breath, headaches, chest pressure, palpitations, hot flash, confusion and finally you've hit the big time, when your heart is mis- firing, scary Sh#t, arrhythmia.no fun at all full on panic mode. I've counseled more then 40 people (all expats) who've spent too many years eating the poison and the most receent was a 32 yr old marathon runner, who flew to Singapore thinking his heart was kaput. The food industry is all about money be careful what you consume. JP
Evidence ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate#Safety

" In a study performed by Tarasoff and Kelly (1993) 71 fasting participants were given 5 g of MSG and then administered a standard breakfast. There was only one reaction, and it was to the placebo in a self-identified MSG-sensitive individual.[18] In a different study done by Geha et al. (2000), they tested the reaction of 130 subjects who reported sensitivity to MSG. Multiple DBPC trials were performed and only subjects with at least two symptoms proceeded. Only two people out of the whole study responded in all four challenges. Because of this low prevalence, the researchers concluded that the response to MSG was not reproducible.[24]"

Try google to find independent research.

If you wanna trust what food industry sponsored funded shortterm research say there is not much to say. Then i guess you trust BP when they say fracking is safe and will not cause any environmental problems and when Monsanto and Nestle say that GMO foods containig pesticides are good for ya...

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Mai aow pom churot (I don't want MSG) ....tag it with a ka or a kap. I've said it hundreds or times, and it usually works ok. When I say it, I don't get all fuzzy farang friendly smiley about it. I say it matter of factly. I also tell them in Thai, that farang don't like MSG.

Just how much food generally has MSG? Is it restaurants we need to watch out for or food vendors too?

I've probably written more words in Thailand than anyone else, re; the ill-effects of MSG. I've had at least 10 letters published in the 2 Eng.Lang newspapers about it. The only people making excuses for the stuff is folks like the guy below, which I'll address.....

>

Numerous and creditable studies recently have shown that SMG doesn't harm your health

what so ever, and there is nothing to worry about from consuming MSG in moderation,

further more, those studies have shown that 2 groups of diners could not tell the different between

dishes prepared with MSG to the dishes prepared with out,

Whatever study that was, had to be majorly flawed. I can tell MSG every time. The people (like Ezzra, perhaps) who don't suffer ill-effects are doing a disservice to those like myself who suffer acutely from the stuff. It would be like people who aren't allergic to pollen saying to hay fever sufferers: What's your silly problem? Pollen doesn't bother me, so why be a cry-baby and fake your sniffles whenever spring flowers are in bloom?!?

When I've asked farang whether MSG effects them, I get a positive disdain for the stuff near 100% of the time. Try it, and see. Some symptom vary, some are similar in all sufferers. There is too much to mention here. Suffice to say, Thai cooks are causing much distress to people who eat their food, particularly farang. Is it ok to mildly poison some folks some of the time? My answer: NO.

In contrast, Thai chefs and Thai cooks would answer (with a smile); whas yo ploblem? We use MSG, mai pen rai (smile some more). Add good taste, no? Why farang worry so mut?

LOL well put! I asked some kitchen folks about this and they pointed it to the fact that MSG is after all a sodium (salt) compound. One thing I have noticed is that I feel much the same after I have consumed a dish with a large amount of soy sauce, and we all know how much sodium is mixed into that. It is well known that consuming large amounts of salt can cause you blood pressure to increase, could then the palpitation be written off as a reaction to a higher salt intake?

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I've heard some MSG defenders saying, 'what's your problem, MSG is fabricated from seaweed, so it's a natural product.'

They might also say, "ricin is made from the castor oil plant, so it's a natural product, so it's got to be ok to ingest."

Note to anyone reading this: please don't ingest ricin. It's highly toxic.

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Funny this question....I normally ask for 'extra MSG' when I order food....wai.gif

Ok, and some folks will put five heaping tablespoons of white sugar in their coffee or, like my hill tribe g.f's - will spoon copious amounts of dried red pepper on anything that isn't supposed to be sweet. You ingest whatever you want, but do me a favor, if you're cooking for me, please don't put any MSG in my food. When it's my time to cook for you, I won't put any poisons in your food. Do we have a deal?

P.S. anyone reading this thread - that has kids: Please please please (do I sound like James Brown?) Please don't expose them to MSG. It jangles their brain cells and contributes to hyperactivity, and tires them out when the effects wear off. You don't have to believe me, but just do it anyway, on a hunch or whatever. We're here to assist kids growing up. Let's not feed them stuff which is debilitating. Please?!

I can't believe you made a serious reply to my sarcastic post....never heard or humour Maidu ?

Ok, you got me. I didn't grasp that you were saying that in jest. Yet, statements similar to that, like; "I love MSG and ask for added portions on my food." are not unusual. Some of the folks who aren't bothered by ill-effects of MSG are flaunting their tolerance of it, in the faces of those of us who feel its bad effects. Even that I don't give a fig about. It's the food-preparers who either don't give it any thought, or else figure that 'this is Thailand. Thai people like it, so everyone should like it' mentality - who irk me.

I'll say it again: if I oversee the making of food for anyone (and yes, I do oversee 2 eat places) I promise I will not allow the use of any ingredient which may poison, however slightly, anyone who eats food prepared at those places I'm involved with.

When someone joins the government, there's a pledge. When some joins the armed forces or a hospital staff, there's a solemn pledge that's required. Of course, pledges don't really mean anything in the real world (any more than marriage vows), but perhaps there should be a pledge for beginning chefs (in Asia) along those lines, mentioned in the above paragraph.

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  • 1 month later...

I've heard some MSG defenders saying, 'what's your problem, MSG is fabricated from seaweed, so it's a natural product.'

They might also say, "ricin is made from the castor oil plant, so it's a natural product, so it's got to be ok to ingest."

Note to anyone reading this: please don't ingest ricin. It's highly toxic.

Exactly. And cocaine comes from leaves and heroin comes from flowers- how could they possibly be harmful?

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  • 2 months later...

There is no such thing as an "allergy to MSG".

Broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, inosinate, guanylate, and autolyzed yeast extract, parmesan

cheese and a host of other foods are all sources of monosodium glutamate (MSG).Why do people

who are "allergic" to MSG not get any reactions to these foods ?

It is amazing what the mind can do to the body !

You are a lucky person never having had a reaction to MSG. From what I have read one is not 'allergic' to MSG but rather 'sensitive'. I can tolerate a certain amount of MSG but above a unknown level I have a very definite reaction including sweating, heart palpitations and severe diarrhea. Given that you obviously have a high tolerance for MSG don't insult those of us who have a low tolerance. It most certainly is not a mind thing. No one in their right mind enjoys conjuring up sudden and uncontrollable diarrhea while eating out with friends or the acute embarrassment of not making it to the toilet in time. Just because you have never had a reaction that is not proof that it doesn't cause a real physical reaction in others.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, inosinate, guanylate, and autolyzed yeast extract, parmesan

cheese and a host of other foods are all sources of monosodium glutamate (MSG).

No they're not. What they contain is L-glutamic acid. MSG doesn't occur in nature.

Yes it does. It is extracted from seaweed. It's not a synthetic product. Merely concentrated from a beautiful weed of the sea. i love MSG and I now cook all foods with it. Thai and western.

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I've heard some MSG defenders saying, 'what's your problem, MSG is fabricated from seaweed, so it's a natural product.'

They might also say, "ricin is made from the castor oil plant, so it's a natural product, so it's got to be ok to ingest."

Note to anyone reading this: please don't ingest ricin. It's highly toxic.

Exactly. And cocaine comes from leaves and heroin comes from flowers- how could they possibly be harmful?

Not even close to the same categories. When has any government outlawed seaweed because they got addicted to it. ? What an idiotic response.

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