Rumor - bad, Ramen - good

As I lustily imagined myself with a heaping bowl of instant noodle soup (with an egg added in, of course) from the stall beside the uni's main library, that thought inevitably entered my mind. The thought that you always think about before eating instant noodles.

"I can't keep eating instant noodles, I'll die of cancer!"

We all have this drilled into our heads by over-protective mothers who say that the chemicals in the noodles will kill us. After I got home, I realized that I was a 21 year old guy with a high speed internet connection. I have the collective knowledge of the entire human race at my fingertips. I must find out if any of this is actually true. Findings after the jump.




If you google "instant noodles" and "harmful" or "health", you will inevitably come across the same story over and over again. It revolves mainly around wax. The noodles are supposedly covered in wax or wax from their containers leech into them and make their consumption harmful. Either that or cooking MSG makes it toxic. They will inevitably tell you about the "right way" of cooking instant noodles to get the wax off. I assume the consequences of not doing so will make you look like Paris Hilton's co-stars in House of Wax.



Now, if you're a perfectly sensible person you would be able to identify these claims immediately as being kookoo-bananas, unfortunately, not everyone is. I mean, really, I'm drinking wax filled water when I'm eating these things? And the BFAD approves this?



Thankfully Monde Nissin itself comes to the rescue regarding these chain mail statements.

Instant noodles are coated with wax to prevent it from sticking together. Because of this wax coating, instant noodles are cancerous when consumed.

Truth of the Matter is --
Instant noodles do not contain any wax. Noodle strands do not stick together as a natural consequence of the process of slitting or cutting the noodle dough into strands, steaming, and then frying in normal cooking oil.

Neither do the paper cups have wax. The paper cups are lined with food grade polyethylene (PE) material. This layer is necessary to ensure that liquid does not soak through the paper. It does not melt with heat or chip when cold, and neither does it affect the prepared product in any way.

Both the inner and outer surfaces of the paper cups are lined with polyethylene (PE) material to protect it from direct damage of external factors and to serve as a moisture barrier.

This does not, in any way, become hazardous when used as packaging material for food and beverages.

For the complete list of facts and myths go here

So no, you don't have to worry about the packaging material contaminating your food and giving you cancer. If you're gonna be worried about instant noodles, just look at the nutritional label instead and find the amount of sodium that a package contains. As with everything, instant noodles eaten with moderation should not be the end of your world.

P.S.
Mothers, they lose credibility by the day.

Danke, fraulein