On its own, MSG itself does not have a good taste, but combined with other foods it enhances those flavours.

It is used in often in processed foods, fast foods, flavourings, meats, canned foods, powdered stocks, sauces, dips, dressing the powder packs with dried noodles and even comes with green mango that you buy from the fruit vendor here in Thailand.

So what’s wrong with tastier you ask? Well, when it’s used to mask bad taste in meats that are getting old, for instance. Also the flavours of food alone should be enough to excite our taste buds.

For the occasions when I have inadvertently eaten food with a lot of MSG, specifically when I forget to request no MSG, I suffer headache, fogginess, insomnia, thirstiness and heart palpitations followed by exhaustion.

It is only at their onset do I then remember that I ate something, and in the case of a restaurant, forgot to mention the magic words, no MSG, (in Thai: mai sai pong-chu-rote).