Carcinogen scare spooks Vietnam markets to recall South Korean noodles

[kawaraj]

Last Updated: Sunday, October 28, 2012 09:20:00


At least two supermarket chains in Vietnam have recalled products made by South Korean instant noodle maker Nongshim following reports they made be contaminated with a known carcinogen.
A representative of Lotte Mart confirmed with Thanh Nien on Saturday that the super market chain had pulled two Neoguri ramen brands from its shelves pending further information to be released by local authorities.

On the same day, a representative of the BigC supermarket chain said it had suspended the sale of some Nongshim instant noodle products in its supermarkets in northern cities and provinces.

The Korea Joongang Daily reported on October 26 that the South Korean state-run Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) pledged that it would order Nongshim, the nation’s No.1 instant noodle maker, to recall its six ramen brands, including the hugely popular Neoguri ramen, after a carcinogen was found in its ramen soup powder.

The decision has left consumers feeling understandably anxious as the KFDA initially decided that the amount of benzophenone detected was too small to be harmful to humans, the paper said.

The KFDA said it randomly collected ramen products made by Nongshim in June and found a maximum of 4.47 parts per billion of benzophenone in six of them, namely, Spicy Neoguri, Mild Neoguri, Neoguri Cup Noodles (large and small), Saewootang Cup Noodles (large) and Seng Seng Udong.

Benzophenone, which is produced during the process of cooking or manufacturing food at high temperatures, is known to cause some forms of cancer.

In related news, market management authorities in Quang Nam Province said they are inspecting a bra product believed to be made in China that turns skin itchy upon contact.

On October 24, Quang Nam’s Phu Ninh District resident Huynh Thi Oanh reported to the provincial market management agency that after the bra made her itchy, she inspected it and found two small bags containing a liquid and six unknown tablets inside.

She said she had bought it a month earlier at the Diem Shop at Quang Nam’s Tam Ky Trading Center for VND35,000 and that its label was written mostly in Chinese.

Tam Ky market management agency inspected the shop and seized 35 similar bras for tests.

The shop owner, Huynh Thi Thuy Diem, said she bought the products from another shop at the Da Nang Trading Center in the central hub of Da Nang.

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily | Carcinogen scare spooks Vietnam markets to recall South Korean noodles

 

[Korean]

I actually wanted to comment on this but the original thread got deleted.

Taiwanese, Hong Kongese and Chinese food safety authorities tested all Nongshim ramen and found no trace of Benzopyrene. The sales will resume shortly.

Basically what happened was that one of the ingredient in Nongshim's udon-style ramen's soup stock, katsuobushi(dried and smoked tuna) used in Japanese cooking, was overcooked, and the Benzopyrene level was slightly over the legal limit. While the soup stock itself was below the legal limit, the recall was issued because of a political pressure, not because of any health concerns. The health experts widely criticized this recall, because the ramen themselves were perfectly safe as a product.

So what is Benzopyrene? It is a byproduct of meat cooking, and you get that when you overcook meat. Basically, you have to eat 16,000 bowls of "recalled" ramen before you get the same level of Benzopyrene from single serving of grilled steak or pan-fried bacon, so the health experts were mocking if the FDA was going to recall bacon too.

Oh, Shin Ramen was never involved in this, because it is a beef based ramen. Only sea-food based ramen were affected by this. And you can still eat the recalled ramen just fine, no cancer risk.

 

[Korean]

A tip for Muslim ramen lovers.

99% of Korean ramen product are safe for muslims because they are either beef or seafood based with vegetable oil noodle frying. Pork based ramen are very rare in Korea, there is like two product based on pork as special "Japanese style" and are promoted accordingly on the package.

A lot of Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese ramen are pork-based and are fried with pork fat, so muslims beware. Although I admit pork-fried noodle tastes better than vegetable oil fried Korean noodles.

 

[kawaraj]

A tip for Muslim ramen lovers.

99% of Korean ramen product are safe for muslims because they are either beef or seafood based with vegetable oil noodle frying. Pork based ramen are very rare in Korea, there is like two product based on pork as special "Japanese style" and are promoted accordingly on the package.

A lot of Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese ramen are pork-based and are fried with pork fat, so muslims beware. Although I admit pork-fried noodle tastes better than vegetable oil fried Korean noodles.

Shut off, you Morbid.

 

[Korean]

Shut off, you Morbid.

Ha Ha Ha, don't tell me you ate hundreds of bowls of pork ramen in Japan???

 

[kawaraj]

Ha Ha Ha, don't tell me you ate hundreds of bowls of pork ramen in Japan???

You are reported, sh1t @ss.

Korean food is famous for being dirty in Japan. I never heard any Japanese and Chinese noodle been caught in recall in such mass scale.

Korean Nongshim is the largest tainted noodle till today. Massive recall will not touch those backward nations such as Africa, I am worry about them.