Dictionary labels offensive term 'Chinese restaurant syndrome' as 'racist'

An urban myth about the negative health effects of MSG that has haunted Chinese food for decades just got blown up.

Merriam-Webster, the country's largest and oldest dictionary, has updated its entry on “Chinese restaurant syndrome,” a term many Asian Americans saw as antiquated, offensive and even racist.

The altered definition of the term follows:

"Chinese restaurant syndrome:a group of symptoms held to affect susceptible persons eating food heavily seasoned with monosodium glutamate : MSG SYMPTOM COMPLEX

"NOTE: The term Chinese restaurant syndrome was coined in the late 1960s following reports of people having bad reactions to food seasoned with monosodium glutamate in Chinese restaurants. Research in the years since has failed to establish a clear link between those adverse reactions and the consumption of MSG, and the term Chinese restaurant syndrome has been criticized as misleading and potentially offensive. It has been replaced in medical literature by MSG symptom complex.,"

After the supposed syndrome was identified in the 1960s as a numbness after eating Chinese food, several physicians opined that the culprit was use of monosodium glutamate, or MSG, that was used in Chinese cooking to enhance the flavor.

MSG comes from glutamate, a common amino acid or protein building block found in food. The Food and Drug Administration says MSG is generally recognized as a safe addition to food. In previous studies with people identifying as sensitive to MSG, researchers found that neither MSG nor a placebo caused consistent reactions, said the FDA.

Merriam-Webster included the term in it's dictionary in 1996 lending credence to the myth.

The old definition of 'Chinese restaurant syndrome'

As it turned out, there was no scientific evidence for linking Chinese food to the reported symptoms that included increased or irregular heart palpitation, a "warming" of the skin and a numbness in the back and neck, dizziness and headaches.

“We record the language — we do not create, sanction or promote any specific words; the language’s speakers do this, and we provide a record of this use,” Emily Brewster, a senior editor at Merriam-Webster, told the New York Times.

“That said,” she continued, “we certainly aim to be mindful of the inevitable shifts in language, and we regularly update both definitions and usage labels to reflect changes.”

A campaign to rid the negative image of MSG was launched by a MSG manufacturer Ajinomoto. The company approached Eddie Huang, the restaurateur and comedian, and Jeannie Mai, a television personality, to lead the #RedefineCRS campaign.

Celebrity chef Huang, whose youth was chronicled in the TV sitcom Fresh Off the Boat based on his autobiography, began mentioning the racist nature of the term on his show,  Huang's World, pointing out that MSG occurs naturally and is used in several other food products and manufacturers without any complaints by consumers.