Phat Thai

[Pescator]

Hi Zaad,

 

I am with you on this one.

When I order it these days I always tell them not to put sugar and peanuts in it. As much as I love peanuts I dont really like them in food.

Sometimes I get a Phat Thai that is not sweetened and sometimes I dont. So I dont take any chances any more, merely tell them how I like it and everyone is happy.

 

On a side note: Why would they put sugar OR/AND salt in Coconut milk and juice and just about any other fruit drink available in food stalls? ::

They have some pretty fucked up taste buds me thinks. ::

 

Cheers

Hua Nguu

 

 

[Brink15]

On a side note: Why would they put sugar OR/AND salt in Coconut milk and juice and just about any other fruit drink available in food stalls?

---

 

Actually a little salt enhances the sweetness in food. You can find info on this at any of the major cooking schools or text such as Larousse Gastronomique.

 

Often the Thais go overboard.

 

[Guest]

Actually most of the time its "Pongchuloot" or anjinomoto that put in as a sweeter, not sugar.

 

I'm allergic to this stuff and always have to ask them not put any in.

[Brink15]

If you are referring to pomchuloht, the white crystalline powder used extensively in Thai cooking, it's actually monosodium glutamate (MSG) and it is a sodium based chemical flavor enhancer not a sweetener. And yes it can make people who are sensitive to it quite sick.

[Pescator]

Hi Oran,

 

MSG in fruit drinks ?

My GF used to be a Mae Khaa working in Wichianburi selling fruit drinks. Sure never put any of that stuff in it, in fact she has never heard of that.

Besides MSG ¼§ªÙÃÊ is a "flavor enhancer" not a sweetener.

 

cheers

Hua Nguu

 

 

 

[Guest]

""Besides MSG ¼§ªÙÃÊ is a "flavor enhancer" not a sweetener""

 

Well whatever, but a good dose of the stuff makes the dish rather sweet, and often when I aks for no MSG, they add sugar instead.

 

But no, not in juices. In Pad Thia, Som Tam, Fried Rice, you name, we've got it with MSG.

Stuff is banned in my country. Makes your hair fall out or so.

[Guest]

Actually that's an Urban Legend. MSG is a naturally occuring substance in the brain and reports of allergic reactions to it are mistaken. Sometimes it's hypochondria or the power of suggestion, sometimes it turns out that there's another substance in the dish in question that's caused the reaction. There's no such thing as an allergy to MSG.

[Brink15]

Hmmm, urban legend? Well, if it's an urban legend it seems to be one that many of the major medical associations believe is true for some people. Even the US FDA believed a scientific report enough to require disclosure of MSG content on food labels. I agree that most people most people aren't affected by it but still believe a small segment of the population does have reactions.

 

Where did you get your urban legend info?

 

Flavor enhancer MSG linked to blindness in rats

 

Last Updated: 2002-10-23 17:00:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)

 

LONDON (Reuters) - High levels of a flavor enhancer common in Asian and processed food can cause serious eye damage and blindness in rats and possibly humans.

 

Scientists at Hirosaki University in Japan said rats fed a diet high in monosodium glutamate, or MSG, suffered vision problems and had thinner retinas than other animals.

 

Glutamate has already been shown to cause nerve damage when it is directly injected into the eye, but Hiroshi Ohguro, who led the research team, said their study is the first to show that eating foods containing high levels of MSG can cause eye damage.

 

"Lesser amounts should be OK," he told New Scientist magazine Wednesday, "but the precise borderline amount is still unknown."

 

Ohguro believes his findings, which were reported in the journal Experimental Eye Research, could explain why there is a high rate of a particular type of glaucoma in eastern Asia, but it could also be due to genetics.

 

Glutamate is a neurotransmitter, or message-carrying chemical. Ohguro and his team found high levels of MSG in fluid that bathes the retina in the rats. They think it reduces sight by destroying some retina cells and damaging others.

 

The scientists fed rats three diets containing different levels of MSG. Rats given high and moderate levels of MSG had eye damage.

 

The amount of MSG given to rats is much higher than people would normally consume, according to Peng Tee Khaw, an eye expert at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

 

"But if you're a sodium glutamate junkie, then you could potentially run into problems with your retina," he said.

---

 

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used as a flavor enhancer in a

variety of foods prepared at home, in restaurants, and by food

processors. Its use has become controversial in the past 30 years

because of reports of adverse reactions in people who've eaten

foods that contain MSG. Research on the role of glutamate--a

group of chemicals that includes MSG--in the nervous system also

has raised questions about the chemical's safety.

 

Studies have shown that the body uses glutamate, an amino

acid, as a nerve impulse transmitter in the brain and that there

are glutamate-responsive tissues in other parts of the body, as

well. Abnormal function of glutamate receptors has been linked

with certain neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease

and Huntington's chorea. Injections of glutamate in laboratory

animals have resulted in damage to nerve cells in the brain.

Consumption of glutamate in food, however, does not cause this

effect. While people normally consume dietary glutamate in large

amounts and the body can make and metabolize glutamate

efficiently, the results of animal studies conducted in the 1980s

raised a significant question: Can MSG and possibly some other

glutamates harm the nervous system?

 

A 1995 report from the Federation of American Societies for

Experimental Biology (FASEB), an independent body of scientists,

helps put these safety concerns into perspective and reaffirms

the Food and Drug Administration's belief that MSG and related

substances are safe food ingredients for most people when eaten

at customary levels.

 

The FASEB report identifies two groups of people who may

develop a condition the report refers to as "MSG symptom

complex." One group is those who may be intolerant to MSG when

eaten in a large quantity. The second is a group of people with

severe, poorly controlled asthma. These people, in addition to

being prone to MSG symptom complex, may suffer temporary

worsening of asthmatic symptoms after consuming MSG. The MSG

dosage that produced reactions in these people ranged from 0.5

grams to 2.5 grams.

 

Although FDA has not fully analyzed the FASEB report, the

agency believes that the report provides the basis to require

glutamate labeling. FDA will propose that foods containing

significant amounts of free glutamate (not bound in protein along

with other amino acids) declare glutamate on the label. This

would allow consumers to distinguish between foods with

insignificant free glutamate levels and those that might

contribute to a reaction.

---

[Guest]

""There's no such thing as an allergy to MSG"".

 

Well thank god for that.

 

I am apparently and unfortunate but exeptional case then, as I can assure you that its MSG that I'm allergic to.

[Guest]

Well, it does agree that it's found in the brain. I doubt people are allergic to their brains, and I think bad things would happen if you eat "excessive" amounts of just about anything.