Saturday, September 12, 2009

What is wrong with our Malay hawker food ???





I have a very sensitive stomach because of my gastric problem. Of late , I found that I could never take Malay food from hawkers stall anymore. I mean I have to delete more and more food from my list.

No, not because they are not delicious. But I found theat Malay hawkers are relying more and more on preservative, additives,artificial flavouring, unnecessary seasoning and that dreaded poison 'msg' - well it is to me anyway.

What is msg ? There is information here,according to the Wilki here,basically,
Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate and MSG, is a sodium salt of the non-essential amino acid glutamic acid. It is used as a food additive and is commonly marketed as a flavour enhancer
and....
A report from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) compiled in 1995 on behalf of the FDA concluded that MSG was safe for most people when "eaten at customary levels." However, it also said that, based on anecdotal reports, some people may have an MSG intolerance which causes "MSG symptom complex" — commonly referred to as Chinese restaurant syndrome — and/or a worsening of asthmatic symptoms.[11]
and...
The INTERMAP Cooperative Research Group conducted a study of 752 healthy Chinese (48.7% women), age 40–59 years, randomly sampled from three rural villages in north and south China and determined that MSG intake may be positively correlated to an increased BMI (Body Mass Index).[16]


MSG is actually first more related to Chinese food, but not any more...Malay food...roti canai, chicken rice, even some 'kueh's ..  Although it is a requirement for processed food manufacturers to  declare that 'msg has been in the labels, but what about food from the hawker stalls ?

I guess my body has a very low tolerance of these additives. I can always tell if the food I ate contains too much additives. My stomach is the best barometer. I know that I waould always suffer a severe stomach pain, and at the worst, I would even get palpitation and probem in sleeping.

Just a few days ago , I had a piece of 'roti  bom' bought from a stall at the Bazaar Ramadan and I could not get a peaceful sleep. I had palpitation which I have not had for well over ten years.I could not understand why they would need any additives for this particular food !

Soup is another favourite victim of this eveil additives. To me, the first sip would tell me if that particular innocent-looking bowl of soup is going to be trouble or not.

I guess, after a while , you become very wary of and sensitive to this.

So why oh why do our  hawkers need msg to enhance their cooking ? And,  because of this I have become very selective and choosy when it comes to eating at stalls.

Of course there are also web-site which declared that msg is safe to consume, but my own body is the best judge of that !

6 comments:

Azhar85 said...

Sir..

i agree with you..Malaysian stall nowdays didn't take care of their customers and not clean.

then when health care department came for spot check..now they in a cold state of fear...

pathetic and ignorant fools...i care less about them as they care less about their customers...

Helas木村 said...

adoi.. msg also now found in all food.. huhu... lucky already less eating maggie and instant noodles.. and always cook at house for dinner.... i hope no msg inside egg as well coz sunnyside up egg is still the nbest for us Bujang2.. hehe

anak si-hamid said...

I do agree with you Mus. Your posting is very, very useful and our Malay hawkers should stop using this additive or declare that they are. It's a cheap con trick and if anything is haram, because it is known that this is bad for one's health, then MSG is.
It is ABSOLUTELY unnecessary for especially Malay and Indian food because these cuisines are tasty enough without additives. That's why it was good in the first place.
Whenever we come back to Malaysia, we always look forward to stall food. But not now - it's a health hazard. (Also it means we have to do more home cooking - TERUK dah!!)

sicKo^ said...

TRue enuff. Using the said additive is totally wrong & nonsense ( i don't have any food additives in my house and my food still taste good). By the way, although my stomach is rounder than most of u (hehe), it still give an uneasy feeling when i consume food with too much additives..

imsunnysideup said...

azhar
Maybe perhaps we should organize a sort of a boycott ?

helas
Glad to know that you're cutting down on instant noodles ( not just maggie) . Sunnysideup ? Unless they have been feeding those poor battery chicken the same rubbish as what we BUY from mamak and malay stalls ./.....

anak si-hamid
the newer generation of cooks would be lost if they do not have MSG in their recipe. There's a Malay restaurant , who used to be setiawangsa, but now moved to Wangsa Maju, which is the only one I know which is concerned about this problem., Their food is guranteed without MSG. They started the wholemeal roti canai and its a kind of a Malay 'health food ' restaurant. (By the way they closed shop at setiawangsa because the locals would not patronise her shop!). That place is called Zidni. Its a nice place for breakfast and after Raya, I'll take you there for a Sunday morning breakfast. ...Oh ...thjis is NOT a commercial ya ! its just that since we're on this topic, they are worth a mention !

imsunnysideup said...

sicko
Glad you felt the same way. By the way, its not the size of the stomach that counts, its the QUANTITY !.....Aand you'd probably pump in double of triple ours...hehehehehe