How Safe is CM Street Vendor Food, MSG, 'Refined' Sugar, Formaldehyde?

[mamborobert]

I eat street food several times a week and have for a number of years. I have regular vendors I go to. I am not trying to save money. It's quick, convenient, tasty, and fresh (and with the two latter has it over Hungry Jacks, KFC, McDonalds etc).

The places I go to are very high turnover and no need to use chemicals as produce is fresh daily (and no desire to incur extra costs). When they run out of food they simply pack up and re-supply from the markets the next day. I have rn into some vendors at the San Pakoy markets purchasing items to sell that evening/afternoon. I buy most of my meat at the same markets probably every second day. (and occasional bulk buys at Makro if a party is on).

There is a Rimping just down the road that by wife would never buy meat from. While she does baulk at the price compared to the market, she has concerns about how fresh the packaged and sealed produce is (and there has very occasionally been some off color items). To her those items that are packed and put out and taken in overnight and put out again are not fresh as she does not know how long they have been there, A known "wet" market with high turnover and a good relationship with the vendor is "safer/healthier" option and I find it hard to argue with her logic. Same for the green leafy stuff.

I don't mind MSG at all but have been quite surprised at how many Thais do not use it at all (given fresh produce). At home I like it with stir fried rice and many a battle has been fought with my wife to get a decent spoonful in rather than waving the unopened pack over the wok. She, and her family never touch the stuff.

I'll stick to my street vendors over western fast food franchises any day of the week especially when I know where they buy, have not been ill, see that they have a high turn over, and mostly because it tastes nice.

I think the key is "fresh" and knowledge that it is fresh, that way you do not need the additives.

Edited March 1, 2014 by mamborobert

[Jonmarleesco]

Well, when you are eating while surrounded by traffic fumes, I hardly think MSG, refined sugar, and even formaldahyde, is all that relevant.

[Throatwobbler]

Can't believe you all fall for the MSG myth. Do some research guys and girls.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/msg-myth-versus-science/

[kaldoverde]

To be honest, I used to have unbearable stomach pain very often when living in the UK and that has gone since living in Thailand.

Also, if you pick the right vendors I am sure you'll find fresh food. As someone posted before, some vendors have such a high turnover that they don't really have a choice of selling anything other than fresh food. I've personally had far worse meals in restaurants than in street stalls.

We have a saying where I come from that goes something like this:

"There was this man who didn't drink, didn't smoke, ate just vegetables and exercised regularly. He died very healthy when a truck ran him over on his 30th birthday."

Point of the matter is, it's delicious, it's way more fresh than most crap we eat in the west, and out of the millions of people who eat it every year I am still to hear about any major problems caused by Thai street food. Don't believe me? Compare stomach cancer rates and even overall cancer rates in Thailand against most western countries and you'll probably realize the food you grew up with is way worse than what these vendors are selling.

[Andre0720]

In the hospital industry they use 10% formalin or 4% formaldehyde in labs and pathology...

It's has a very low odor threshold so can be overpowering if the lid is off a container...

Flat out believe that 40% in the article is a typo...will check if they have reclassify it as a carcinogen as it wasn't in year 2000..nasty toxic chemical and highly regulated in calif...

CB

I went to a SuperCheap drug store today.

I took a picture od a 450 ml bottle of Formalin, it reads 38% W/W CH2O

62 bahts.

So for 62 bahts, the food vendors can display all the fresh food for a long time...

[andreandre]

I eat street food several times a week and have for a number of years. I have regular vendors I go to. I am not trying to save money. It's quick, convenient, tasty, and fresh (and with the two latter has it over Hungry Jacks, KFC, McDonalds etc).

The places I go to are very high turnover and no need to use chemicals as produce is fresh daily (and no desire to incur extra costs). When they run out of food they simply pack up and re-supply from the markets the next day. I have rn into some vendors at the San Pakoy markets purchasing items to sell that evening/afternoon. I buy most of my meat at the same markets probably every second day. (and occasional bulk buys at Makro if a party is on).

There is a Rimping just down the road that by wife would never buy meat from. While she does baulk at the price compared to the market, she has concerns about how fresh the packaged and sealed produce is (and there has very occasionally been some off color items). To her those items that are packed and put out and taken in overnight and put out again are not fresh as she does not know how long they have been there, A known "wet" market with high turnover and a good relationship with the vendor is "safer/healthier" option and I find it hard to argue with her logic. Same for the green leafy stuff.

I don't mind MSG at all but have been quite surprised at how many Thais do not use it at all (given fresh produce). At home I like it with stir fried rice and many a battle has been fought with my wife to get a decent spoonful in rather than waving the unopened pack over the wok. She, and her family never touch the stuff.

I'll stick to my street vendors over western fast food franchises any day of the week especially when I know where they buy, have not been ill, see that they have a high turn over, and mostly because it tastes nice.

I think the key is "fresh" and knowledge that it is fresh, that way you do not need the additives.

I think the key is "fresh" and knowledge that it is fresh, that way you do not need the additives.

Problem is that the vast majority of farmers/growers use huge amounts of chemicals, so you must also consider that if you are worried about ingesting other ''later added'' toxins..

Hard to win for sure unless you buy certified organic and cook it all yourself...

[playyer]

Yes, do your research

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

A single intake of monosodium glutamate (MSG) may cause headache and increased muscle sensitivity. We conducted a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study to examine the effect of repeated MSG intake on spontaneous pain, mechanical sensitivity of masticatory muscles, side effects, and blood pressure.

METHODS:

Fourteen healthy subjects participated in 5 daily sessions for one week of MSG intake (150 mg/kg) or placebo (24 mg/kg NaCl) (randomized, double-blinded). Spontaneous pain, pressure pain thresholds and tolerance levels for the masseter and temporalis muscles, side effects, and blood pressure were evaluated before and 15, 30, and 50 min after MSG intake. Whole saliva samples were taken before and 30 min after MSG intake to assess glutamate concentrations.

RESULTS:

Headache occurred in 8/14 subjects during MSG and 2/14 during placebo (P = 0.041). Salivary glutamateconcentrations on Day 5 were elevated significantly (P < 0.05). Pressure pain thresholds in masseter muscle were reduced byMSG on Day 2 and 5 (P < 0.05). Blood pressure was significantly elevated after MSG (P < 0.040).

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, MSG induced mechanical sensitization in masseter muscle and adverse effects such as headache and short-lasting blood pressure elevation for which tolerance did not develop over 5 days of MSG intake.

ssociation between monosodium glutamate intake and sleep-disordered breathing among Chinese adults with normal body weight.

Shi Z, Wittert GA, Yuan B, Dai Y, Gill TK, Hu G, Adams R, Zuo H, Taylor AW.

Source

Department of Nutrition and Foodborne Disease Prevention, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, China. [email protected]

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To assess whether monosodium glutamate (MSG) intake is associated with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).

METHODS:

Data from 1227 Chinese subjects who participated in the Jiangsu Nutrition Study were analyzed. All the participants were examined at two time points (baseline in 2002 and follow-up in 2007). The MSG intake was assessed quantitatively in 2002 and a sleep questionnaire was used to assess snoring and to construct an SDB probability score in 2007. Those within the fifth quintile of the score (highest) were defined as having a high probability of SDB.

RESULTS:

The MSG intake was positively associated with snoring and a high probability of SDB in participants who had a normal body weight but in those who were overweight. A comparison of the extreme quartiles of MSG intake in subjects with a body mass index lower than 23 kg/m² showed an odds ratio of 2.02 (95% confidence interval 1.02-4.00) for snoring and an odds ratio of 3.11 (95% confidence interval 1.10-8.84) for a high probability of SDB. There was a joint effect between MSG and overweight in relation to SDB.

CONCLUSION:

The intake of MSG may increase the risk of SDB in Chinese adults with a normal body weight.

The monosodium glutamate symptom complex: assessment in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study.

Yang WH, Drouin MA, Herbert M, Mao Y, Karsh J.

Source

Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Considerable debate swirls about the validity of symptoms described by many people after ingestion ofmonosodium glutamate (MSG), and the question has remained unresolved largely because of a paucity of well-designed challenge studies.

METHODS:

We conducted oral challenge studies in self-identified MSG-sensitive subjects to determine whether they had a statistically significant difference in the incidence of their specific symptoms after ingestion of MSG compared with placebo. First, 5 gm MSG or placebo was administered in random sequence in a double-blind fashion. Subjects who reacted only to a single test agent then underwent rechallenge in random sequence in a double-blind fashion with placebo and 1.25, 2.5, and 5 gm MSG. A positive response to challenge was defined as the reproduction of > of 2 of the specific symptoms in a subject ascertained on prechallenge interview.

RESULTS:

Sixty-one subjects entered the study. On initial challenge, 18 (29.5%) responded to neither MSG nor placebo, 6 (9.8%) to both, 15 (24.6%) to placebo, and 22 (36.1%) to MSG (p = 0.324). Total and average severity of symptoms after ingestion of MSG (374 and 80) were greater than respective values after placebo ingestion (232 and 56; p = 0.026 and 0.018, respectively). Rechallenge revealed an apparent threshold dose for reactivity of 2.5 gm MSG. Headache (p < 0.023), muscle tightness (p < 0.004), numbness/tingling (p < 0.007), general weakness (p < 0.040), and flushing (p < 0.016) occurred more frequently after MSG than placebo ingestion.

CONCLUSIONS:

Oral challenge with MSG reproduced symptoms in alleged sensitive persons. The mechanism of the reaction remains unknown, but symptom characteristics do not support an IgE-mediated mechanism. According to Food and Drug Administration recommendations, the symptoms, originally called the Chinese restaurant syndrome, are better referred to as the MSG symptom complex.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) intake is associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a rural Thai population.

Insawang T, Selmi C, Cha'on U, Pethlert S, Yongvanit P, Areejitranusorn P, Boonsiri P, Khampitak T, Tangrassameeprasert R,Pinitsoontorn C, Prasongwattana V, Gershwin ME, Hammock BD.

Source

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand. [email protected].

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Epidemiology and animal models suggest that dietary monosodium glutamate (MSG) may contribute to the onset of obesity and the metabolic syndrome.

METHODS:

Families (n = 324) from a rural area of Thailand were selected and provided MSG as the sole source for the use in meal preparation for 10 days. Three hundred forty-nine subjects aged 35-55 years completed the study and were evaluated for energy and nutrient intake, physical activity, and tobacco smoking. The prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2), insulin resistance (HOMA-IR >3), and the metabolic syndrome (ATP III criteria) were evaluated according to the dailyMSG intake.

RESULTS:

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the tertile with the highest MSG intake. Further, every 1 g increase in MSG intake significantly increased the risk of having the metabolic syndrome (odds ratio 1.14, 95% confidence interval-CI- 1.12 - 1.28) or being overweight (odds ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.04 - 1.29), independent of the total energy intake and the level of physical activity.

CONCLUSION:

Higher amounts of individual MSG consumption are associated with the risk of having the metabolic syndrome and being overweight independent of other major determinants.

[femi fan]

There is no way to escape the shit that is found in food here, even on vegetables and fruits.

Enjoy corruption and little knowledge about health of the local people.

Only 1 solution, grow your food and cook it !

It appears you are suggesting that one will not find shit in food in other countries? Have you ever thought about the downright dangers of eating food in the likes of america or britain or australia?

Grow your own food? Make sure the seeds aren't from america, king of genetically modified foods. Solutions are not as simple as you think.

[kwaussie]

Went visiting Thai partners friends one morning and saw cart full of food prepared for that night and was covered in flies so extra careful now.

[femi fan]

Well, when you are eating while surrounded by traffic fumes, I hardly think MSG, refined sugar, and even formaldahyde, is all that relevant.

Perhaps you ought to think again. Directly ingesting toxins and chemicals and poisonous foods goes right into the blood and then the organs. Breathing pollution, while not the best thing to be doing, is rather like second-hand smoking. It's damaging, but the body has a few defences to help reduce the effects. Not so with stuff you put in your mouth and swallow.

It's a chemical world, thanks to the US and european nations who make all the chemicals and crap that gets into our land, air, and waterways, and all over our food. It's the huge pharma corporations in those nations that make and sell this toxic stuff all over the world. It is they who unleashed the 'green revolution', so a lot of posters on this forum are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that thailand is somehow the sole culprit.

The ignorance displayed over food, and thailand food, is astounding. Chiang Mai has dozens, perhaps hundreds of local markets. Cairns in Australia, a similar size city, has ONE fresh food market, and that's only open four days a week.

Buy fresh produce from a local market that has lots of customers. Turnover is daily, and you're way way better off than buying western crap from supermarkets, whether it's imported into thai supermarkets, or bought in their own supermarkets back in those countries.

Produce here tastes too, unlike most fruits and vegetables in many western nations.

Get clued up on codex alimentarius and then think again.

Food has seven billion customers, the best capitalist product going. The big pharma and food companies want to control the whole thing. They do in the developed nations through their food production and supply methods (eg mammoth supermarket chains). Luckily here in thailand we can get fresh locally grown produce that is turned over daily in most markets.

And if you don't want msg, tell the cook. And if you don't want glue in your foods, ask the vendor if they've put glue on their produce. If you don't believe them, walk to another patch of the market and simply watch them for two hours. If they're not spraying their foods, then perhaps they told you the truth.

[femi fan]

Can't believe you all fall for the MSG myth. Do some research guys and girls.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/msg-myth-versus-science/

Wow!! You believe what you read in that article??

No wonder the pharma and food companies can get away with putting all this toxic shit into the foods they grow and sell.

I notice at the start of the article they included mention of hfsc. This is one of the worst culprits that lead to so much misery and destruction of the human body, but it's also mightily profitable.

The food industry poisons you, then the pharma industry comes along to give you the pills to make you 'better'. It's a done deal.

If you wanna do some research, look into rates of cancer, just for one example, in, say, america over the last 100 years. As we get more 'developed' we increase all major diseases.

I really recommend you take a new approach to understanding food. Or not, but don't tout articles like that as containing accuracy.

[Ulysses G.]

Can't believe you all fall for the MSG myth. Do some research guys and girls.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/msg-myth-versus-science/

Wow!! You believe what you read in that article??

Yes, I do and most of the SCIENTIFIC research backs it up. I will take the word of the Mayo clinic long before some loony website.

Researchers have found no definitive evidence of a link between MSG and these symptoms. Researchers acknowledge, though, that a small percentage of people may have short-term reactions to MSG. Symptoms are usually mild and don't require treatment. The only way to prevent a reaction is to avoid foods containing MSG. http://www.mayoclinic.org/monosodium-glutamate/expert-answers/faq-20058196

[Thaiready]

In the hospital industry they use 10% formalin or 4% formaldehyde in labs and pathology...

It's has a very low odor threshold so can be overpowering if the lid is off a container...

Flat out believe that 40% in the article is a typo...will check if they have reclassify it as a carcinogen as it wasn't in year 2000..nasty toxic chemical and highly regulated in calif...

CB

Hell everything is regulated in California...except what needs to be....thats another topic

Edited March 1, 2014 by Thaiready

[Jose]

Glutamate is harmless. MSG is just that with a sodium ion on the end. You are a hypochondriac.

Salt is also harmless. It is just chlorine with a sodium ion on the end.

Take out the sodium, and see what happens.

Stop extrapolating your ignorance onto others.

[Throatwobbler]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Can't believe you all fall for the MSG myth. Do some research guys and girls.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/msg-myth-versus-science/

Wow!! You believe what you read in that article??

No wonder the pharma and food companies can get away with putting all this toxic shit into the foods they grow and sell.

I notice at the start of the article they included mention of hfsc. This is one of the worst culprits that lead to so much misery and destruction of the human body, but it's also mightily profitable.

The food industry poisons you, then the pharma industry comes along to give you the pills to make you 'better'. It's a done deal.

If you wanna do some research, look into rates of cancer, just for one example, in, say, america over the last 100 years. As we get more 'developed' we increase all major diseases.

I really recommend you take a new approach to understanding food. Or not, but don't tout articles like that as containing accuracy.

I suggest you read the huge amounts of scientific data that has found no harmful effects about MSG. I really recommend you take take a new approach to understanding science and not believing people's second hand stories.

Edited March 1, 2014 by Throatwobbler

[Jose]

Make sure the seeds aren't from america, king of genetically modified foods. Solutions are not as simple as you think.

You can't seriously compare deadly formalin's instant toxicity with possible long-term effects from GMO grains.

Everything is toxic to the body at certain levels, even water intake in high amounts. This is the favourite argument used by people who give up on life, with the "everything kills you" argument.

[mettech]

I have been lucky to never be sick from eating strange food from anywhere in the world so if I was to be concern about what is in it I would cook myself or stay in my country and eat well.

Canada is all frozen from weeks done like pork,chicken.beef and fish. Freezing state kill bacteria.

[quidnunc]

Glutamate is harmless. MSG is just that with a sodium ion on the end. You are a hypochondriac.

Salt is also harmless. It is just chlorine with a sodium ion on the end.

Take out the sodium, and see what happens.

Stop extrapolating your ignorance onto others.

sodium choride is not comparable to monosodium glutamate. If you take away the sodium atom in salt, you end up with chorine, a toxic substance. If you take away the sodium from monosodium glutate you end up with "The carboxylate anions and salts of glutamic acid [which]are known as glutamates. In neuroscience, glutamate is an important neurotransmitter that plays a key role in long-term potentiation and is important for learning and memory.^[4]"

^{Ignorance is certainly on display in one of the above postings, but I'll refrain from pointing out in which one it lies.}

[Jose]

Glutamate is harmless. MSG is just that with a sodium ion on the end. You are a hypochondriac.

Salt is also harmless. It is just chlorine with a sodium ion on the end.

Take out the sodium, and see what happens.

Stop extrapolating your ignorance onto others.

sodium choride is not comparable to monosodium glutamate. If you take away the sodium atom in salt, you end up with chorine, a toxic substance. If you take away the sodium from monosodium glutate you end up with "The carboxylate anions and salts of glutamic acid [which]are known as glutamates. In neuroscience, glutamate is an important neurotransmitter that plays a key role in long-term potentiation and is important for learning and memory.^[4]"

^{Ignorance is certainly on display in one of the above postings, but I'll refrain from pointing out in which one it lies.}

True - ignorance is the common trait of all humanity, and I don't exclude myself.

However...

Glutamic Acid (a non-essential amino acid) is not the same as Monosodium Glutamate - MSG does not have the same function in the body, does not cross the blood-brain barrier in healthy humans, and is not even detoxified by the same metabolic pathway in the liver.

The point is, your comparison between MSG and its precursor GA is invalid, as any slight alteration to an organic compound often turns it from a beneficial substance into a potentially toxic one.

[FolkGuitar]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

[quidnunc]

I think what lies behind the warnings of the various food obsessives telling us what most of us already know about the risks one incurs by eating sugar or animal fats or or soft drinks or whatever is a kind of Puritanism as defined by H.L. Mencken: "The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.'

Although I might substitute "envy" for "fear."

[CNXBKKMAN]

MSG may not be harmful in the amounts you are directed to use when cooking. ie a "pinch" . Which if you try it is a very small amount. Watch the street vendors produce your somtam or whatever and see the heaped teaspoon that is used. Probably more than one weeks worth in one dish. These kind of measurements are not healthy.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Can't believe you all fall for the MSG myth. Do some research guys and girls.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/msg-myth-versus-science/

Wow!! You believe what you read in that article??

No wonder the pharma and food companies can get away with putting all this toxic shit into the foods they grow and sell.

I notice at the start of the article they included mention of hfsc. This is one of the worst culprits that lead to so much misery and destruction of the human body, but it's also mightily profitable.

The food industry poisons you, then the pharma industry comes along to give you the pills to make you 'better'. It's a done deal.

If you wanna do some research, look into rates of cancer, just for one example, in, say, america over the last 100 years. As we get more 'developed' we increase all major diseases.

I really recommend you take a new approach to understanding food. Or not, but don't tout articles like that as containing accuracy.

That's a lot of words you're putting into his mouth. Hint: he's not a food industry groupie, he's pointing out accepted scientific fact about a particular substance. (One of the three mentioned in this topic.)

[mamborobert]

Perhaps we can move through some of the world's other food related issues such sugar, salt, msg, trans fats, fast food, food colouring, food substitutes, organic food, preservatives, genetically modified food etc and form some agreement. It may take some time, but I'm sure that we can do it, perhaps quicker if we just all agree with the munga bean crowd..

What's the fashion on how many eggs I'm allowed to eat in a week now? It changes so often.

Please hurry....I'm on a retiree visa and am conflicted about whether I will die of old age or starvation waiting for a definitive answer. Sometimes I wonder how I reached this age at all without Thaivisa posters (peer reviewed ) I have never met telling me the dangers of what I eat. From these posters I now realise that the whole point of my life is to die with a pristine colon.

Can someone wake me when we start talking about Chiang Mai street food again.

Oops...is coffee bad for you?

[vagabond48]

Glutamate is harmless. MSG is just that with a sodium ion on the end. You are a hypochondriac.

Whether the OP is a hypochondriac is irrelevant but your statement shows your lack of chemistry knowledge.

I know this may be a bit extreme but if I said carbon monoxide is really harmless because it is only missing a single Oxygen atom, would that be acceptable too?

[Ulysses G.]

From Woody Allen's film "Sleeper":

Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called "wheat germ, organic honey and tiger's milk."

Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.

Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or... hot fudge?

Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy... precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.

Dr. Melik: Incredible.

[andreandre]

"Everything in moderation"...The key words to living a good life IMO..

Nothing more, nothing less..

Worrying about what to eat/do constantly will probably do you more harm as well..

Edited March 2, 2014 by andreandre

[femi fan]

Can't believe you all fall for the MSG myth. Do some research guys and girls.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/msg-myth-versus-science/

Wow!! You believe what you read in that article??

Yes, I do and most of the SCIENTIFIC research backs it up. I will take the word of the Mayo clinic long before some loony website.

Researchers have found no definitive evidence of a link between MSG and these symptoms. Researchers acknowledge, though, that a small percentage of people may have short-term reactions to MSG. Symptoms are usually mild and don't require treatment. The only way to prevent a reaction is to avoid foods containing MSG. http://www.mayoclinic.org/monosodium-glutamate/expert-answers/faq-20058196

Most of the scientific evidence backs it up? What does that mean? Most? Do you mean therefore that science itself is open to interpretation? Surely not?? I mean, isn't science science, the be all and end all of human fact? If science says it is so, then this must be so.

Science, like politics, is often just about who gets to shout the loudest, who gets the voice, who gets the money - and where from - to do their research.

If you can find science and scientific researchers who say msg is bad, and others who say it's good, then perhaps it's not science, perhaps it's philosophy.

[Ulysses G.]

Can't believe you all fall for the MSG myth. Do some research guys and girls.

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/msg-myth-versus-science/

Wow!! You believe what you read in that article??

Yes, I do and most of the SCIENTIFIC research backs it up. I will take the word of the Mayo clinic long before some loony website.

Researchers have found no definitive evidence of a link between MSG and these symptoms. Researchers acknowledge, though, that a small percentage of people may have short-term reactions to MSG. Symptoms are usually mild and don't require treatment. The only way to prevent a reaction is to avoid foods containing MSG. http://www.mayoclinic.org/monosodium-glutamate/expert-answers/faq-20058196

Most of the scientific evidence backs it up? What does that mean?

It means that you can find cranks that claim almost anything. There are the odd scientists who say that HIV does not cause AIDS, but the vast preponderance of evidence is against them.

[techboy]

I did not spend much time with the links but: MSG is an old flavour enhancing technique and is used in a lot of cooking. It is popular and purchased off the shelf in supermarkets. Find it in a friends home cooking as likely as from vendors selling prepared dishes. It is odourless so your girlfriend is not smelling it. With formaldehyde, you are buying prepared veggies and you obviously cannot rinse them off as you normally would anyway to remove insecticides. I am sceptical that the actual concentration of formaldehyde present in the preserved meat and fish was determined- The chemical would have already dispersed in the tissues and I refuse to believe that one will find the fluid of the treated tissue itself to be of 37% concentration.

Refined sugar is not any more harmful than raw sugar. That is an absurd myth. Raw sugar just contains molasses which gives it a brown color.