Ramen inventor's son soups up healthier legacy

Ando, 62, believes the stiffest challenge is curbing salt in noodles. “We have to do it gradually, step by step,” said Ando, .. “Our longtime customers enjoy the salt in our noodles, so we cannot simply reduce it just like that.”

Definitely. One pack of cup noodles has about 1500 mg of sodium, which should be the sodium intake for the entire day. Actually American Heart Association recommends 1000 mg of sodium per day.

Average Japanese gets about 5000 mg of sodium per day. No wonder Japan has very high rates of gastric cancer, hypertension and cerebral hemorrhage.

Food industry will always resist salt reduction as salt helps them to cut prices.

I don't see how they can possibly ever make instant noodles 'healthy', but this is a start towards making them 'healthier'.

Yes, instant noodles is unhealthy (if you eat it regularly), but I can't see how eating it occasionally could kill you. Like anything, moderation is the key. I eat it a few times a month, but have no health problems due to eating it. Get my health checked yearly and my cholesterol and blood pressure levels are always very low (as it always has been for my whole life). If anything, my blood pressure is too low, as indicated in my last health check. But of course, it's probably because good health isn't only about watching what you eat, but also getting enough exercise (e.g. jogging everyday as I do) enough sleep (6-8 hours a day), and following proper hygiene such as brushing and flossing everyday. It also helps that I don't smoke, and hardly ever drink alcohol. Good health is also a bit genetic as some people are blessed with high metabolisms which help to burn the food they eat quickly, thus keeping them slim no matter how much they eat. This helps since being overly obese makes one's heart has to work even harder to keep them alive.

I will do my best to help reach 100 billion servings!

actually... they could take alternatives like adding salt substitute to their noodle (i.e. potassium chloride) very much like the Americans add sugar subs. to their consumables; however I think what they should take out is some of the MSG (printed as "mono-sodium glutamate" on the ingredients list) that's in the noodle which has a more negative impact on health then normal table salt. Other "bad" substances in the noodles are the preservatives that was added; however, the substances can be wash away with a quick blanch in hot water and shock the noodle in cold water.

Other thoughts: they sell 92 billion servings per year and yet they only "donated" 1.8 mil servings to needy people? that's less then 0.1% of their annual sales...

Why don't they add freeze-dried vegetables and such to their soups? That sounds like a really obvious way to make their soups healthier. There must be a reason why they haven't.

To properly remove the "bad" substances from instant noodles is fairly simple: after cooking the noodles, drain the stock down the sink, then carefully dump the noodles into the rubbish bin. Recycle to container if applicable.

Otherwise, just admit it's a food substitute to enjoy on rare occasions. It's not just the additives: refined flour products are always unhealthy; think sugars, diabetes, fat. I know, I know: I've eaten my share, too. I like to add fresh greens and an egg.

I worship at the altar of the God of instant ramen - I call him Noodlor. There should be a month called Ramendan but instead of fasting, we all eat instant noodles everyday. Glory to the salty, soupy goodness.

R Amen.

Why not just buy a package of dried noodles/udon/ramen and make your own? It's still just a matter of boiling water and presto. With the advantage of none of the chemical additives. WWII food is sooo over.

Campbell's Soup Company managed to significantly reduce the salt content in its tomato soup by switching to sea salt.

After reading about the Noodle Summit I wonder if there is a TV Dinner Summit in N.America.

I wish I was the man who invented ramen - it's a pretty cool claim to fame. I'd imagine he retired with billions in the bank!

BurakuminDes: "I wish I was the man who invented ramen"

Not to get pedantic, but we are talking about INSTANT ramen, which is quite different from the Chinese food invented some thousands of years ago.

That being said, it would also be nice if they could reduce the sodium in regular ramen, too, and not just the instant stuff. I LOVE ramen, but the salt content is way too high to justify taking in any more than a little of the soup.

Styrofoam packages that are mostly air =/= eco-friendly.

I read a business biography of Koki Ando. He came off as a real tosser with daddy problems. If I recall correctly, his father was arrested during the war for embezzling war materiel, and Koki openly admits to discriminating against executives on account of their weight. He didn't want clients thinking that cup noodle makes you fat.

I avoid Nissin as much as possible.

Supernatural, I guess you have never seen those noodles. They have contained dried veggies since the beginning. Freeze-drying was invented by the Japanese Koya mountain monks last century, before instant coffee (another Japanese invention) and that probably gave the idea for the instant ramens.

The noodles in themselves could be healthy (as an element of a balanced diet). But yes, the salt, the sugar, the MSG, the artificial flavorings, the preservatives in the soup... and even the contact of the hot water with plastic/stryofoam cups are not something you want to eat regularly. If they reduce progressively each of these things, their noodles will be decently healthy in about 100 years.

a World Instant Noodles Summit

LOL!

Why didn't they put instant in the title of this thing? I never eat that junk, although I have tried it. Noodles spin counter clockwise when given the flush.

Freeze-drying was invented by the Japanese Koya mountain monks last century

Citation?

Freeze-drying was invented by the Japanese Koya mountain monks last century, before instant coffee (another Japanese invention)

The basic process of freeze-drying food was known to the ancient Peruvian Incas of the Andes. The Incas stored their potatoes and other food crops on the mountain heights above Machu Picchu. The cold mountain temperatures froze the food and the water inside slowly vaporized under the low air pressure of the high altitudes.

Freeze-dried coffee was first produced in 1938, and lead to the development of powdered food products. Nestle company invented freeze-dried coffee, after being asked by Brazil to help find a solution to their coffee surpluses. Nestle's own freeze-dried coffee product was called Nescafe, and was first introduced in Switzerland.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfrdrfood.htm

I've cited a reference and Japan is notably absent from either the invention of the process or the invention of freeze-dried coffee.

omfg reinventing the wheel