Once a month, I try to enjoy a high-end meal at a fancy restaurant in New York City with my family. Since it’s a treat, I usually look for a style of cooking I enjoy – which for me, is often French – and a restaurant within that genre that may have gained some popularity throughout the year.
我每个月都会和家人去纽约的豪华饭店吃一次饭。因为这是一种享受，通常我会去选择自己喜欢的烹饪风格，对我来说是法式的，然后在有这种风格烹饪的餐厅里选择一家这一年都比较受欢迎的去就餐。
But no matter how hard I try eat healthy and clean, I always end up sick. And I’m not talking about food poisoning or stomach issues. I wake up with symptoms of toxicity like joint pain, headache and general weakness, and many times, feeling like I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. And this doesn’t only happen to me, it also happens to my wife.
不管我吃得再怎么健康和卫生，当我从餐馆中吃饭回来最终都会生病——并不是食物中毒或胃不好——我早上起来的时候伴随着关节痛，头痛和全身无力的症状，发生很多次了，就像我没有睡好觉一样。而且不止是我，我的妻子也有同样的情况。
I’ve racked my brain to try and figure out what it could be, and I always come back to the same thing: Monosodium glutamate (MSG). MSG is a food additive that has been used for decades to enhance flavor. It’s commonly used in Chinese food, canned vegetables soups and processed meats. It’s composed mainly of glutamic acid and salt; the former having been shown to excite the brain and general nervous system, which in high doses, has been implicated in epileptic seizures.
我绞尽脑汁想找出问题出在哪儿，每次矛头都指向了同一个东西：味精。味精是一种食品添加剂，用于增加食物的味道，已经使用了几十年了，普遍用在中餐、罐头蔬菜汤和加工过的肉类里面。它的主要成分是谷氨酸和盐，前者会刺激大脑和一般神经系统，如果剂量过高，有可能会引起癫痫发作。
Still, MSG is classified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a safe food ingredient, but personally, I feel the jury’s still out on that one.
然而，味精依然被食品药品管理局（FDA）作为安全的食品添加剂，但就个人来说，我觉得这个判定是有问题的。
There’s not a lot of research to back up the notion that MSG causes adverse reactions in those that consume it. But over the years, health officials have received thousands of anecdotal reports from people who ate foods containing the additive claiming they suffered from headaches, numbness, sweating, heart palpitations, nausea and fatigue. Those reactions, known as MSG symptom complex, are usually mild and often don’t require medical attention, but it certainly makes you wonder.
并没有很多调查研究能证明食用味精会产生不良反应，但是这么多年以来，卫生部门收到过无数的关于食用添加剂引起的病例，例如头痛、麻痹、出汗、心跳加速、呕吐和疲劳。这些反映被称作味精症候群，通常并不严重，也不需要药物治疗，但确实会让人觉得自己得病了。
The FDA requires all manufacturers of processed foods to label whether or not they contain MSG, but restaurants are not required to disclose such information.
FDA要求所有的食品添加剂的生产厂商都要标明其产品是否含有味精，但是餐馆却不需要告知这些信息。
As a society, we keep honing in on how a lot of these exogenous chemicals might be harming our systems. They are not part of our food chain, but yet, in an effort to please our taste buds, MSG is often incorporated into our diet.
我们在社会上，应该时刻关注这些外部化学成分是否会伤害人体健康。它们不是我们食物链的一部分，但还是为了能够给我们的味蕾带来快感，而被加入到我们的饮食中。
I think it’s important for restaurants to come clean and clearly display that MSG is a part of their food preparation. Because if we don’t do something about controlling this chemical exposure, we may regret it later on.
我觉得餐馆有义务告知顾客他们的食物中是否添加了味精，如果我们不控制这些食品添加剂的摄入，将来我们一定会后悔。
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