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Instant noodles are a precooked and usually dried noodle block, sold with flavoring powder
and/or seasoning oil. The flavoring is usually in a separate packet, although in the case of cup
noodles the flavoring is often loose in the cup. Some instant noodle products are seal packed;
these can be reheated or eaten straight from the packet. Dried noodle blocks are cooked or
soaked in boiling water before eating.

The main ingredients used in dried noodles are wheat flour, palm oil, and salt. Common
ingredients in the flavoring powder are salt, monosodium glutamate, seasoning, and sugar. The
dried noodle block was originally created by flash frying cooked noodles, and this is still the main
method used in Asian countries, but air-dried noodle blocks are favored in Western countries.

Instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando (born Go Pek-Hok) of Nissin Foods in Japan.
[1]
They were launched in 1958 under the brand name Chikin Ramen. In 1971, Nissin
introduced Cup Noodles, a dried noodle block in a polystyrene cup (It is referred to as Cup
Ramen in Japan). Instant noodles are marketed worldwide under many brand names.

Ramen, a Japanese noodle soup, is sometimes used as a descriptor for instant noodle flavors by
some Japanese instant noodle manufacturers (as Indomie use Mie goreng as a descriptor for
their Mi goreng range). It has become synonymous in America for all instant noodle products. [2]

Contents

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1History

2Composition

o 2.1Flour

o 2.2Water

o 2.3Salt

o 2.4Oil

o 2.5Starches

o 2.6Polyphosphates

o 2.7Hydrocolloids

3Production

4Physical Properties

o 4.1"Elasticity"

o 4.2Short Cooking Time

 5Health and safety concerns

o 5.1Nutritional value

o 5.2Sodium

o 5.3Frying oil

o 5.4Lead

6Worldwide

o 6.1Argentina

o 6.2Australia

o 6.3Bangladesh

o 6.4Brazil

o 6.5Canada

o 6.6China

o 6.7Colombia

o 6.8Denmark

o 6.9Germany

o 6.10Hong Kong

o 6.11Hungary

o 6.12India

o 6.13Indonesia

o 6.14Japan

o 6.15Korea

o 6.16Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei

o 6.17Mauritius

o 6.18Mexico

o 6.19Nepal

o 6.20New Zealand
 o 6.21Nigeria

o 6.22Pakistan

o 6.23Peru

o 6.24Philippines

o 6.25Poland

o 6.26Russia

o 6.27Saudi Arabia

o 6.28South Africa

o 6.29Sweden

o 6.30Taiwan

o 6.31Thailand

o 6.32The Netherlands

o 6.33Ukraine

o 6.34United Kingdom

o 6.35United States

o 6.36Vietnam

7See also

8References

9External links

History[edit]

Instant noodles were invented by Taiwanese-Japanese inventor Momofuku Ando in Japan. It was
first marketed on 25 August 1958 by Ando's company, Nissin, under the brand name Chikin
Ramen.[3] Ando developed the production method of flash frying noodles after they had been
made, creating the "instant" noodle. This dried the noodles and gave them a longer shelf life,
even exceeding that of frozen noodles. Each noodle block was pre-seasoned and sold for 35
yen. Initially, due to its price and novelty, Chikin Ramen was considered a luxury item, as
Japanese grocery stores typically sold fresh noodles for one-sixth their price. [4][5] Despite this,
instant noodles eventually gained immense popularity, especially after being promoted
by Mitsubishi Corporation.[6]
In 1971, Nissin introduced Nissin Cup Noodles, instant noodles in a polystyrene cup, to which
boiling water is added to cook the noodles. A further innovation added dried vegetables to the
cup, creating a complete instant soup dish.

According to a Japanese poll in the year 2000, "the Japanese believe that their best invention of
the twentieth century was instant noodles."[7] As of 2010, approximately 96 billion servings of
instant noodles are eaten worldwide every year. China consumes 42 billion packages of instant
noodles per year 44% of world consumption Indonesia, 14 billion; Japan, 5.3 billion, Vietnam
4.8 billion, USA 4 billion. Per capita, South Koreans consume the greatest amount of instant
noodles, 69 per capita per year.[8]

Composition[edit]

There are three key ingredients in wheat based noodles: Wheat flour, water, and salt. [9] Other
than the three main ingredients, USDA regulations allow instant noodles to contain palm oil,
seasoning, sodium phosphates, potato starches, gums, and other ingredients. [10] Knowing the
composition of instant noodles is crucial to understand the physical chemical properties of the
product; therefore, the function of each ingredient listed above is specified below.

Flour[edit]
Generally, noodles can be made from different kinds of flours, such as wheat flour, rice flour, and
buckwheat flour, depending on the various types of product manufacturers want to make. For
instant noodles, flours which have 8.5-12.5% protein are optimal because noodles must be able
to withstand the drying process without breaking apart, which requires a higher amount of protein
in flour, and during frying, high protein content can help decrease the fat uptake. [9]Gluten, which is
made up of glutenin and gliadin, is the most important wheat protein that forms the continuous
viscoelastic dough of noodles. The development of gluten structures and the networking between
gluten and starches during kneading is very important to the elasticity and continuity of the
dough.

Water[edit]
Water is the second most important raw material for making noodles after flour. The hydration of
dough determines the development of gluten structure, which affects the viscoelastic properties
of dough. The water absorption level for making noodles is about 30% - 38% of flour weight; if
the water absorption level is too high, hydration of flour can not complete, and if the water
absorption level is too low, the dough will be too sticky to handle during processing. [9] For instant
noodles, dehydration is an important step after noodles are made because water can offer a
hospitable environment for microorganisms. Depending on dehydration methods, USDA has
regulation on moisture content of instant noodles: for instant noodles dehydrated by frying,
moisture content cannot exceed 8%, and for those dehydrated by methods other than frying,
moisture content cannot exceed 14.5%.[10]

Salt[edit]
Salt is added when making the flour dough to strengthen gluten structures and enhance the
sheeting properties of dough, and it can make the noodles softer and more elastic. Salt also
offers the basic salty flavor of noodles and can cover some of the off-flavor generated by flour
and processing. Another function of salt is to slow the activities of enzymes, such as proteolytic
enzymes, which could interrupt the gluten structures, and microbial growth. Alkaline salt, such as
sodium and potassium carbonates, could be added to noodle dough to enhance the yellow color
of the product if needed because flavonoid pigments in flour turns yellow at alkaline pH levels,
and the increase of pH could also influence the behavior of gluten, which could make noodle
dough even tougher and less extensible (for some noodles, like Japanese ramen, this is wanted).
For making fresh noodles, the amount of salt added is 1-3% of flour weight, but for instant
noodles, due to the longer shelf life, it requires higher salt content.[9]

Oil[edit]
Frying is a common dehydration process for producing instant noodles. Therefore, oil becomes
an important component of instant noodles. According to USDA regulation, oil-fried instant
noodles should not have fat content higher than 20% of total weight, which means theoretically,
amount of oil uptake during frying process could go even higher. Therefore, the high fat content
of instant noodles is always the reason why consumers who is pursuing healthy diets would not
buy this product. Palm oil is always chosen as the frying oil for instant noodles due to its heat
stability and low cost. However, overall, due to the high fat content and low moisture content,
instant noodles are highly susceptible to lipid oxidation, and relatively high amount of
preservatives are added. Hence, to avoid the generation of off flavors and health risking
compounds, some instant noodles were dehydrated by ways other than frying to reduce the fat
content. According to USDA, un-fried instant noodles should have fat content lower than 3%. [10]