Chinese restaurant syndrome

English

Etymology

Coined by Robert Ho Man Kwok in a 1968 letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.

Noun

Chinese restaurant syndrome (uncountable)

1. (medicine, gastroenterology) A supposed syndrome associated with consumption of the westernized version of Chinese food, characterized by various symptoms such as burning and tingling sensations, rapid heartbeat, and drowsiness, and initially ascribed to monosodium glutamate (but possibly just psychosomatic, or hypernatremia from overconsumption of salt).

Synonyms

• Chinese food syndrome
• CRS (abbreviation)

Hypernyms

• monosodium glutamate symptom complex

See also

• MSG symptom complex