Article ID: CBB000932791

“That Won-Ton Soup Headache”: The Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, MSG and the Making of American Food, 1968--1980 (2009)

unapi

This paper examines the `discovery' of the Chinese restaurant syndrome in 1968 and subsequent reactions by the medical community, scientists, public health authorities and the general public to dangers posed by the common food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) and by Chinese cooking more generally. It argues that Chinese restaurant syndrome was, at its core, a product of a racialised discourse that framed much of the scientific, medical and popular discussion surrounding the condition. This particular debate brought to the surface a number of widely held assumptions about the strangely `exotic', `bizarre' and `excessive' practices associated with Chinese cooking which, ultimately, meant that few of those studying the Chinese restaurant syndrome would question the ethnic origins of the condition.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000932791/

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Authors & Contributors
Cobbold, Carolyn Ann
Janzen, Mark Ryan
Østby, Per
Zeide, Anna
Wilson, Bee
Williams, Amrys O.
Concepts
Food industry and trade
Food and foods
Food safety
Food science; food technology
Public health
Agriculture
Time Periods
20th century, late
20th century
20th century, early
21st century
19th century
18th century
Places
United States
China
San Francisco (California)
England
Americas
Norway
Institutions
United States. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)
Smithsonian Institution
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