Methyl anthranilate acts as a bird repellent.
Gee, you can’t snort bird repellent? 
Huh. I get nauseated around certain kinds of perfumes and there are certainly people who get migraines triggered by scents (there are people who get migraines triggered by nearly everything from stress to bright lights), but it almost sounds like you’re having an allergic reaction in your sinuses to them.
Should be pretty easy to test if you can stop them and ask them for what kind of perfume they use since you’ll get the same reaction to your skin at larger amounts. I guess it might be hard not breathing though while you do the test.
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It’s also a key component in the flavor and scent profiles of pears, apples, grapes, and other fruits. I only run into trouble when it’s concentrated like in your standard purple drank, and red wine.
Capsaicin is mammalian herbivore repellent. That doesn’t make it unsafe in low concentrations, like in your pico de gallo.
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For you, LDoBe, I’ll hold your head while you throw up 
As to exposing yourself to methyl anthranilate, I’m reminded of a Henny Youngman joke:
“Doc, it hurts when I do this.” “Don’t do that.”
In most cases there isn’t any harm in you using your personal experience to decide what is right for you to do, rather it is generally a good idea. The problem comes when we try to extrapolate our personal experiences, which are subject to the subconscious flaws of our human cognitive biases, for broader use. And that is precisely what is at issue in the case of MSG. People are told MSG causes headaches, and, lo and behold, people who think they are eating MSG-laced food report getting headaches. That is legitimate personal experience of what they believe happened, but when those individuals corroborate each others personally convincing anecdotes as universal “fact” we get can misinformed.
Science is what we use to separate what seems true to our bias prone minds from what is objectively true. When subjected to science that accounts for human bias, the headaches of so called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome fall by the wayside. MSG does not cause wide spread headaches, though that doesn’t rule out the possibility of causing adverse reactions in a much smaller population of people. The same is true of “scent” sensitivity.
Now, back to Methyl anthranilate. From the wiki:
Methyl anthranilate acts as a bird repellent. It is food-grade … It is also used for the flavor of grape Kool-Aid.
Well, now I know why I find grape Kool Aid so repellent. 
Now this is rather amusing:
Methyl anthranilate both as a component of various natural essential oils
I’ll bet there are many “scent” sensitive people who are just fine with their natural “essential” oils that they don’t know have Methyl anthranilate in them, but are affected by the scent of perfumes that use the same chemical. Speculation on my part, admittedly, but I do think people tend to give stuff that comes from the natural health store a pass that they don’t give to the nasty chemicals used in perfumes.
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There’s a reason why the plural of “anecdote” isn’t “data”.
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No-one appears to be marketing MSG-free Bags of Salted Dicks.
MAKE IT SO.
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As far as I know it is an entirely naturally occurring form. Msg is just one of several stable salt forms the glutimate molecule can take one. The other major one is apparently a potassium based salt. And from what I understand the stuff is pretty much extracted as is from kelp and algae then purified. As opposed to being created in beakers at a chemical plant.
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Oh I’m pretty aware already of what triggers a response and what doesn’t, and I just avoid the triggers as much as I can. I still don’t think its an allergy, more an irritation. Some people can’t drink red wine because of they get migraines when they do, I can’t use scented laundry soap, it is what it is. We’re all special snowflakes in our own ways. 
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Those are the worst smelling places ever.
Well, except for shopping mall nail salons and cookie shops.
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I can’t use scented laundry soap because of whatever is in the chemical lavender smell!
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Perhaps those food items also have antagonists that help to dampen the effect of MSG on @HansHibbety…
Never buy cookies from a combination nail salon and cookie shop… 
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Ya, Zero Odor is pricey, but it works really well. I just keep a spray bottle in reserve for the really stubborn stuff…
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Lays All Natural Sea Salt Potato chips are actually excellent. Head and shoulders above their normal, greasy regular chips. They have just “potato, sunflower oil, salt” (as i recall). Though I suspect crack might be a hidden ingredient—I have been known to consume an entire pillow of them with no ill effects. (At least other than the obvious weight related ones—and the horrified stares from my wife.)
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That was a strange way to let everyone know you’re prejudiced against the middle class. Why did you use the example of Chinese food instead of fast-food burgers to prove your point…was that to make it seem like you really were talking about MSG?
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No, it’s in delicious, delicious fish. And it’s 100% natural!
Yep, exactly the point. Dietary sensitivities are real, and kill people all the time. One of the many reasons product labeling is important, and is hated by pseudo-scientific corporate shills.
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So can anyone explain why, if I feel a headache coming on, I can often stave it off by eating nori? Seems backwards to me.
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Yeah, years ago where I worked there was a woman who wore perfume. Whenever she was near I had uncontrollable sneezing fits that wouldn’t stop until I was out of the “perfume bubble” for a couple minutes. And they would start before I was consciously aware of the smell, so I don’t think there was any sort of biased observation. And it was only that specific perfume.
I never found out what brand it was or what particular chemical it was, and as I don’t work there any more it’s not been a problem since. Fortunately for me it was just the sneezing.
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I worked briefly at Little Seizures (Little Caesars), and it was rather enlightening.
During training they were always talking up how important it is to put “cheesy powder” on everything. It didn’t smell anything like cheese. I made a pizza without “cheesy powder”, it had no taste at all, wet cardboard mostly. Then I had a slice of pizza made with “cheesy powder”, it tasted like what you’d expect from Little Caesars.
I managed to look up the ingredients for “cheesy powder”. They are: cellulose, msg. It’s amazing the difference MSG can make.
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