National: Cup Noodles And What Else?

Be afraid, college students and the creative underclass. Be very afraid. No, it’s not because jobs are drying up faster than ramen noodles to an unwashed pan. It’s not because you’ll never get another student loan again, and Sallie Mae will send a death-squad to your house to collect on the current one. It’s not even because this is the year you realize waiting tables is going to be the highest-paid job you’ve ever had (provided you get paid, that is).

You should be afraid, underpaid people, because the latest product to fall victim to a contamination scare is none other than the staple of your diet, Cup Noodles.

Okay, so we’re being a touch dramatic. But still, most of the half-million cups of freeze-dried noodles recalled Friday over fears they were contaminated by insecticide had already been sold in Tokyo-area stores, according to Asia Pacific News Service:

The product was made at a Nissin factory in Japan. A series of previous scares have involved food imported from China.

The health office said on inspecting the Cup Noodle they had discovered paradichlorobenzene, the key chemical in bug repellent, but no puncture or other abnormality in the cup.

Nissin was voluntarily recalling around 500,000 cups made on the same factory line the same day, a company spokesman said.

They were sold at supermarkets in Tokyo and neighbouring areas with most of them already gone from store shelves, he said.

So, if you live in the Tokyo area, you may consider turning in your supply of Nissin Cup Noodles.

For the rest of us, let’s just marvel at how darned many cups of noodles must enter the world in a day. If one production line of one factory cranked out 500,000 of them, and the company has 29 factories worldwide, according to its website… We don’t know how many production lines are in each factory, but still, that’s a whole freaking lot of Cup Noodles.

Fortunately, for you, and ironically unfortunately for Nissin, the immense popularity of Cup Noodles and similar products has led to a sizable trend of ramen restaurants popping up in cities all over the United States. It may not be the $0.50 meal you’re used to from the cup, but trust us, a bowl of ramen at Asuka Ramen & Curry will at least be a lot tastier and better for you than anything freeze-dried.

Japan’s Nissin recalls 500,000 noodles over insecticide fears [Asia Pacific News Service]
Nissin Foods [Official Site]
Asuka Ramen & Curry [MenuPages]

[Photo: Via Mappi 1322]

National: Cup Noodles And What Else?