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The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

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Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#31

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

If the only food they know to contain MSG is Chinese food then it’s a stretch to call that racism.

Exactly, but that doesn't fit the narrative! It must be racism!

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#32
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> MSG is a naturally occurring food substance, with a distinctive savory taste known by Japanese as umami. “It’s a chemical the same way water is a chemical,” said LeMesurier, who is herself of Korean descent, raised by white parents. “If you have ever eaten aged cheese or heirloom tomatoes, you’ve eaten MSG.” Its powdered form was created in 1908 by a chemist in Japan, and it made its way with Chinese immigrants to…

Cyanide is also a naturally occurring chemical found in food items like Cassava and to a lesser extent, potatoes. That didn't make it harmless.

Fair point, but both ions in MSG are vital to human health in significant quantities. Plus, we've got a heck of a lot of epidemiological data in the countries where it is eaten liberally vs. where it is not, and there is nothing suggesting any significant negative effect aside from known overconsumption of either of the ions, regardless of their compound form.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#33
post #26

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)

The racism addition into everyday online discourse is what 'flavors' an article or topic, kind of like MSG flavors Doritos or stir-fry. Is it racism, is it not, it leads to a heated fight-or-flight type of feeling, or an indignation, or a strong nod and interest. Similar to the way salaciousness gets our attention in an ad or gossip story.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#34
post #26

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)

This.

Invoking racism and gender discrimination when it’s not the reason, causes more racism and it gives more than ample opportunity to actual racists within us to exploit it for their own nefarious needs.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#35
post #26

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)

lmao, the history of racism behind the demonization of msg is well documented

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-f...

And funny enough there's another comment saying

> If the only food they know to contain MSG is Chinese food then it’s a stretch to call that racism.

and that's exactly where this hoax started

after all, it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots when the vernacular for msg problems is "chinese restaurant syndrome"

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#36

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

Yep! I remember being taught it was something "shifty" Chinese people do to their food to make it taste better as a sort of dishonest competitive trick, at the cost of the health of their customers. I was told so many ethnic groups were "shifty" like this compared to the "moral" white majority. I think growing up in the USA means being exposed to a lot of different kinds of racisms and "otherings." Its incredible how in denial some people are over this and how "racism is dead, if it ever existed" is a common theme in the USA, especially over the last 4 years due to presidential politics.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#38
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)

lmao, the history of racism behind the demonization of msg is well documented https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-f... And funny enough there's another comment saying > If the only food they know to contain MSG is Chinese food then it’s a stretch to call that racism. and that's exactly where this hoax started after all, it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots when the vernacular for msg pr…

welcome to hacker news, of course mostly white tech-librotarians don't think racism exists, just those pesky minorities making too much noise for nothing; anytime it's brought up an army descends to trivialize and dismiss it

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#39
post #26

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)

Are they for different reasons? What is the reason Koreans think it's bad for health? As I haven't read about that.

Given that in the west it was also dubbed "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" I would think some form of prejudice played a part.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#40
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> MSG is a naturally occurring food substance, with a distinctive savory taste known by Japanese as umami. “It’s a chemical the same way water is a chemical,” said LeMesurier, who is herself of Korean descent, raised by white parents. “If you have ever eaten aged cheese or heirloom tomatoes, you’ve eaten MSG.” Its powdered form was created in 1908 by a chemist in Japan, and it made its way with Chinese immigrants to…

Cyanide is also a naturally occurring chemical found in food items like Cassava and to a lesser extent, potatoes. That didn't make it harmless.

Water is also naturally occurring in many food items. That didn't make it harmless - you can die from too much.
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