Instant noodles from the supermarket or late purchase are a popular snack, especially for children and young people – because they are unbeatably cheap. They are often not even cooked, but eaten raw. But how unhealthy is this meal actually? FITBOOK asked the nutrition experts and got a frightening conclusion.
A pack of instant noodles from manufacturers such as Yum Yum, Nissin or Mama costs just 50 cents or less. These brands are particularly common on supermarket shelves, in Asian shops or in late-night shops around the corner. Normally you should put them in a bowl with the accompanying spice mixture and the flavored oil and pour boiling water over them. In just a few minutes, the instant noodles become soft and become a particularly quick meal. Alternatively, they are also available in cups, which means that you don’t even need a bowl for brewing.
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But on the go you usually don’t have boiling water at hand. That is not a problem either – at least for many children and young people. Because instead of preparing this snack with hot water, they crumble the contents, mix them with the spice mixture and the oil – the snack is ready.
An ingredient list full of E-numbers. Behind this are various additives such as flavor enhancers, thickeners and coloring agents. There’s even coffee creamer in these instant noodles!Photo: FITBOOK
Instant noodles are often cheaper than snack foods
But why don’t they grab chips or other snacks right away? Because the instant noodles are unrivaled cheap. While a pack of crisps is rarely available for less than one euro (branded products usually cost more than two euros), instant noodles rarely cost more than 50 cents, even when bought late. This is an unbeatable argument for young people who only get a few euros in pocket money per week.
Our self-test in the editorial office showed: The salty spice mixture full of flavor enhancers in combination with the garlic oil unfolds its effect even without water. The uncooked pasta is also surprisingly easy to chew. So the snack actually works as a spicy nibble. And as is known from other flavor-enhanced products, it is not so easy to stop after the first bite. The popularity among children and young people is therefore quite understandable.
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Instant noodles from Yum Yum and Co. are so unhealthy.
What a look at the list of ingredients shows – it’s teeming with E numbers. These stand for food additives. Behind it are flavor enhancers, thickeners and acidity regulators. The palm oil used contains antioxidants to prevent it from going rancid. Of course, no real meat is used in the chicken version, just flavor. Amazing: The vegetarian version contains even more additives, possibly to compensate for the lack of meat flavor.
We wanted to know more about it and had the nutritional values analyzed by a nutritionist.
dr medical Stefan Kabisch is a study doctor in the Department of Clinical Nutrition at the German Institute for Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke. Photo: Private
«A single 320 milliliter soup prepared to manufacturer’s specifications provides a product that has no nutritional benefit,» says study physician Dr. Stefan Kabisch from the German Institute for Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke in response to a FITBOOK request. With around 240 kilocalories, a plate of this soup provides relatively little energy compared to a classic pasta plate (500-600 kcal).
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In addition, this energy consists of 50 percent quickly absorbable carbohydrates (white flour and sugar) and 20 percent saturated fats. The instant noodles contain hardly any satiating protein, hardly any healthy fatty acids, hardly any fiber. “You don’t get full from it, nor do you stay healthy in the long term with larger quantities of the product. This is not recommended, not even for once in between. The stomach will growl again very quickly,” states the nutrition expert.
According to Kabisch, the three grams of salt per 320 milliliters of soup account for more than half of the daily requirement. «Great thirst will follow quickly,» says the doctor. You should also keep an eye on the amount of salt, because you have already eaten most of it with the noodle soup.
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But what about eating the uncooked pasta raw – is that dangerous? «Raw pasta is hardly digestible, but in terms of nutritional physiology it is largely irrelevant given the small quantities,» says Kabisch, giving the all-clear at least on this point.
Expert opinion on the nutrients in the instant noodles: «You don’t get full from it, nor do you stay healthy with larger amounts of the product in the long term.»Photo: FITBOOK
The expert conclusion: unacceptable as food!
His conclusion about the product is extremely bad, even as a quick snack from time to time. «I can’t certify the product as harmless for any time frame, it is never an acceptable food,» attests study doctor Dr. Stefan Kabisch the instant noodles as a meal.
It is frightening, then, that many children and young people in particular use instant noodle soups as a snack and subject their still-growing bodies to this “unacceptable” product.
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So should you rather grab snacks like potato chips?
But should you rather grab other snacks like potato chips instead? «Eight ounces of chips have three times the calories of 12 ounces of this soup, also mostly simple carbs and unfavorable fat, and way too much salt. So we’re comparing plague and cholera,» says the expert provocatively, and then formulates his nutritional recommendation as a question: «How about freshly cooked food?»