4 ms·

Sorry about that, from the wikipedia page on MSG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate#Safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate#

by etler 13y ago

Sorry about that, from the wikipedia page on MSG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate#Safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate#Safety The oral lethal dose to 50% of subjects (LD50) is between 15 to 18 g/kg body weight in rats and mice respectively, five times greater than the LD50 of salt (3 g/kg in rats). Which references: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10736380 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10736380

corin_ 13y ago
Is the LD50 relevant in food except for stuff that is actually likely to kill people? The dangers aren't that anybody is going to have so much salt (or msg) in their body that it kills them like that.
- etler 13y ago
  I think it can be used as a relative scale of toxicity though, but I'm not a chemist, so if anyone with a background in it knows better, I'd like to know.
r0h1n 13y ago
You neglected to mention the very next line after the one you quote: >> Therefore, the intake of MSG as a food additive and the natural level of glutamic acid in foods do not represent a toxicological concern in humans.
- etler 13y ago
  I didn't think it was relevant, as my assertion was just that it was easier on your body than salt, but thanks for pulling that out if you think it will help.
  - mbreese 13y ago
    Differences in LD50 does not directly imply that one is easier on your body to absorb than the other... It says that one will kill you faster, by eating absurdly large amounts.
jules 13y ago
This is only one half of the story. To make an apples-to-apples comparison you also have to consider how much you need for the same effect on taste. Hypothetically, if you need 10 times as much glutamate as salt to achieve an equally tasty food, then salt would be a better option. Also LD50 only takes into account short term effects. This is the same story with aspartame vs sugar. Aspartame has an LD50 of around 5 g/kg, sugar 29.7 g/kg. You can say "wow, aspartame is 6 times as toxic as sugar!", but you have to take into account that it is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Of course in reality you can't really compare salt with glutamate since they stimulate different receptors. In the end we can probably conclude that neither salt not glutamate pose any real danger to a healthy person in doses that are not completely ridiculous, so add both to your food!
- sjwright 13y ago
  > sugar 29.7 g/kg So if I ate 2.6 kg of sugar in one sitting, I have a 50 percent chance of dying as a result? Mmmm, could be worth it.

by etler 13y ago

corin_ 13y ago

Is the LD50 relevant in food except for stuff that is actually likely to kill people? The dangers aren't that anybody is going to have so much salt (or msg) in their body that it kills them like that.

etler 13y ago
I think it can be used as a relative scale of toxicity though, but I'm not a chemist, so if anyone with a background in it knows better, I'd like to know.

r0h1n 13y ago

You neglected to mention the very next line after the one you quote: >> Therefore, the intake of MSG as a food additive and the natural level of glutamic acid in foods do not represent a toxicological concern in humans.

etler 13y ago
I didn't think it was relevant, as my assertion was just that it was easier on your body than salt, but thanks for pulling that out if you think it will help.
- mbreese 13y ago
  Differences in LD50 does not directly imply that one is easier on your body to absorb than the other... It says that one will kill you faster, by eating absurdly large amounts.

jules 13y ago

This is only one half of the story. To make an apples-to-apples comparison you also have to consider how much you need for the same effect on taste. Hypothetically, if you need 10 times as much glutamate as salt to achieve an equally tasty food, then salt would be a better option. Also LD50 only takes into account short term effects. This is the same story with aspartame vs sugar. Aspartame has an LD50 of around 5 g/kg, sugar 29.7 g/kg. You can say "wow, aspartame is 6 times as toxic as sugar!", but you have to take into account that it is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Of course in reality you can't really compare salt with glutamate since they stimulate different receptors. In the end we can probably conclude that neither salt not glutamate pose any real danger to a healthy person in doses that are not completely ridiculous, so add both to your food!

sjwright 13y ago
> sugar 29.7 g/kg So if I ate 2.6 kg of sugar in one sitting, I have a 50 percent chance of dying as a result? Mmmm, could be worth it.