Is it rude to ask for no MSG?

Is it bad or rude to ask the restaurant if they use MSG in their food?
Im going to a birthday dinner at a Chinese restaurant and would like to ask if they use MSG to ask them not to make my food with it.

Not bad at all--as has been noted, many places post if they DON'T use it. If MSG creates health problems for you, then you should know if someone's using it.

What is MSG? Sorry I still don't know a lot of stuff about nutrition. I eat chinese food once a month, never knew about this?

MSG is short for monosodium glutamate. It is a flavor enhancer that you add to your food to boost the flavor, it is also addicting, so makes you want more of that particular food. A lot of restaurants use MSG, specially fast food places such as kfc, mc.donalds, and pretty much every other fast food. It is also widely used in processed foods. MSG is one of the factors that makes you obese. Besides obesity there are a lot of health risks caused by ingesting MSG, so I stay away from it as much as I can.

Wow thats scary!! Thanks for the info. I don't think I'll be eating chinese food anymore.

MSG is also in big dominating brands such as vitamins and toothpaste. Most people who do not have an intolerance/ allergy to MSG will live their whole lives not knowing it is inside things from their medicine cabinet.

You don't have to avoid chinese food, Andrea. Just order things steamed if you go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. Avoid the Chinese buffets, though... especially since most of their hot food items are oily and/or fried.

But keep in mind that all types of food contains MSG... they are just well-hidden. I challenge you to check boxes of "wheat crackers" at the store and see how many you can find that seem to be "perfectly healthy"!

Yay google

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

And there's more. Naturally occuring amino acid. Typically, only people with certain disorders have a problem with it.

And the person above me said it better

Dang you beat me to it by seconds

If you're allergic to MSG, then you must be allergic to broccoli, tomatoes, etc.
If you're not allergic to MSG, why is it such a big deal to avoid it?

What is MSG? Sorry I still don't know a lot of stuff about nutrition. I eat chinese food once a month, never knew about this?

MSG is short for monosodium glutamate. It is a flavor enhancer that you add to your food to boost the flavor, it is also addicting, so makes you want more of that particular food. A lot of restaurants use MSG, specially fast food places such as kfc, mc.donalds, and pretty much every other fast food. It is also widely used in processed foods. MSG is one of the factors that makes you obese. Besides obesity there are a lot of health risks caused by ingesting MSG, so I stay away from it as much as I can.

You were doing ok until the bold part. Then your post became useless.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/27/us-msg-linked-weight-gain-idUSTRE74Q5SJ20110527

Exactly.

I used to work at an asian restaurant and a lot of the foods that came pre-packaged such as spring rolls or soup bases all had MSG in them already, so maybe ask just to double check to see if they can help you!

I would just call the restaurant ahead of time and ask if they use it so you can plan what you're going to get before you go there. No sense in asking when you're there, then making the server wait while you make up your mind and making your friends wait.
It's fine to avoid it but plan ahead.

I would just call the restaurant ahead of time and ask if they use it so you can plan what you're going to get before you go there. No sense in asking when you're there, then making the server wait while you make up your mind and making your friends wait.
It's fine to avoid it but plan ahead.

Ding ding ding! Call ahead, or go to a place that says "No MSG" if you're concerned, although, the other posters have already given reasons to not be concerned. Deep fried, sugary sauced chicken or fried noodles with no MSG is going to be worse for you than steamed or sauteed veggies and chicken with MSG.

not at all. I am allergic to it so I always ask when eating at Asian food restaurants. If they are offended they probably don't care too much about their food or customers. You have a right to know what you are eating (coming from someone with a long list of food allergies)

What is MSG? Sorry I still don't know a lot of stuff about nutrition. I eat chinese food once a month, never knew about this?

MSG is short for monosodium glutamate. It is a flavor enhancer that you add to your food to boost the flavor, it is also addicting, so makes you want more of that particular food. A lot of restaurants use MSG, specially fast food places such as kfc, mc.donalds, and pretty much every other fast food. It is also widely used in processed foods. MSG is one of the factors that makes you obese. Besides obesity there are a lot of health risks caused by ingesting MSG, so I stay away from it as much as I can.

What is the difference metabolically speaking between MSG and naturally occurring glutamate, like the kind found in Roquefort, ripe tomatoes, walnuts etc?

People who are prone to migraines already know the foods that have glutamate in larger amounts in them and do their best to avoid them. MSG can be sort of sneaky and you eat it without realizing it and get triggered. That would be the difference, though I grant you it may not be a metabolic difference.