People urged to stop using MSG

Human Rights

People urged to stop using MSG

Reporter: Chai Sayam

Warnings by the health ministry calling for a stop to dependency on Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), seasoning powder widely used in Burma, have appeared in state-run papers this week.

"This is one order from the government most people, including its own low ranking employees, are going to ignore," commented a civilian official from Rangoon to S.H.A.N..

The reason, she and her housewife friends say, is low-income families can afford to buy only vegetables and "the only thing that adds to their flavor is the ajinomoto (brand-name of the MSG.)"

According to health ministry's notice, consumption of MSG leads to complaints such as asthma, prickling, high blood pressure, heart disease, nervousness and swellings. It urges the people to prepare food "in the natural way."

It is not known why the government has suddenly become serious about the MSG, a Thai-made product. "In the past, when the relations with Thailand were at their lowest ebb, the use of MSG was considered an act of disloyalty," she remembers.