3 December 2002
Doris Lee Butterworth
As someone completely obsessed with food, one thing I'm struck by is the lack of available information about nutrition for ethnic groups. Sure we're told to eat five pieces of fruit and vegetables a day, as well as less meat, more fish - preferably oily - and more wholegrains, but how much bak choi constitutes one portion? Just how many dried chestnuts and bamboo shoots do you have to eat to be healthy and do beansprouts contain the same amount of vitamins and minerals as say celery?

Traditionally, the Chinese diet is considered to be healthy and boiled rice and noodles are often the backbone of dishes. Copious amounts of beansprouts and leafy green vegetables are also often added, which boosts the vitamin and mineral intake, and smaller pieces of meat, fish or tofu are tossed in.

While the base ingredients are often met with approval, the use of soy sauce, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and salt in dishes has, over the past couple of years, come under attack. MSG is considered to be addictive but recent studies suggest that this flavour enhancer can also cause far more damage ranging from skin rashes to depression and physical ailments.

Although MSG is found in Chinese food, it's also in a number of other foods including crisps and salty, processed food snacks. However, more column inches seem to be devoted to condemning the use of this additive in Chinese food rather than assessing whether a packet of ready salted or cheese and onion will cause more harm.

In the US, where nutritional facts and figures can be more accessible, many Chinese restaurants are now offering MSG-free takeaways. England may be slower to catch on but as we become more aware of our eating habits and food issues, MSG-meals are also being offered this side of the pond.

Food advisers tell us to substitute refined foods such as white rice, bread, pasta and noodles for wholegrain products. As a complex carbohydrate, brown rice has been heralded as a wonder food yet, I can't see many Chinese people making that change, no matter how healthy or unhealthy white rice may be.

And what about substituting sunflower or vegetable oil with olive oil when cooking a sitr fry? It just doesn't work - and believe me I've tried.

I suppose the best solution is to continue making small adjustments - such as trimming the fat off meat, using less oil when stir frying and eating more rice than meat and heavy sauces. It would be great, however, if information about eating healthily for Chinese and other Asian groups was as accessible as the downbeat news we hear about MSG.