Instant Noodles - Are they safe ?
Something we all like! Is it SAFE?
In India, instant noodles is found in almost all households. Maggi, Yipee and Knorr are some of the noodles people prefer to eat. For example, even though the "2-minute Maggi" noodles can never actually be prepared in 2 minutes, children, moms, and even small food sellers love it. Why ? Because it is yummy, filling, and the easiest snack to make without spending a dime. In 2017, Nestle recorded a whooping 10,000 crore sales mark from Maggi as per Economic Times, whereas the new players like Yipee crossed a huge 1000 crore in sales in 2018.
After the Maggi ban in 2015, the market share of Maggi fell from 75% to 60% in 2019. However, Maggi still remains the favourite household snack for most kids and youngsters. We again come to the question, Instant Noodles, is it really healthy? Let's first take a look at the ingredients and nutritional contents of Maggi.
A first glance gives the impression of pretty clean ingredients with the exception of "Refined flour". However, we do have option to spend a few extra bucks and get the healthier offering which goes by the name of "Atta" noodles. The devil lies in another ingredient - the palm oil.
Some studies show that Palm oil and Soybean oil may actually be bad for your cholesterol levels. Another study showed that reheated palm oil caused arterial plaques in rats. Since we are unaware of how these manufacturers actually use the Palm oil in their noodles, it is uncertain as to how bad it is for us. But still, too much consumption of such noodles may really be bad for your health due to the presence of Palm oil and natural flavours. The term "natural" is just a gimmick and is as bad as artificial flavours (further read). It may seem I am just targetting Maggi, but the truth is other noodles manufacturers such as "Yipee" by ITC also use Palm oil as their main oil.
An Environmental Threat . . .
Apart from being questionable for your health, Palm oil poses a major threat to the environment. The process of getting Palm oil is highly unsustainable and responsible for 8% of the World's deforestation as discussed in this BBC article. In fact, the use of Palm oil as a biofuel in Europe is banned and more and more supermarkets are getting rid of products containing palm oil. The video from BBC shows the impacts of Palm oil on our environment and the species living in Rainforests.
Better Options ?
Honestly speaking, as per my research, most instant noodles in India use Palm oil as the main oil. However, Patanjali is the only brand using "rice bran" oil which is healthier and environmentally sustainable cooking oil.
To conclude, it is still better to prepare your own noodles if you have the time and are willing to put the effort. However, if you really care for your health and more importantly the environment, think before buying your instant noodles !
Thank You & Eat Healthy !
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Disclaimer : This article is NOT to favour or insult any brand and their products. It is solely to provide information to the reader about the different ingredients, their impacts on the health and environment and what they should look for when buying "instant noodles".
About Me : I am a young chap pursuing my PhD in Electrical Engineering in US. After graduating from IIT Delhi and coming to US to do my PhD, I realized how in India we carelessly put in some foods in our body without really thinking of the consequences it may have on us and our surroundings. All my blog posts will aim to bring out the evils present in the ingredients of our favourite foods and teach you what you should look for in ingredients when buying food from the supermarket.
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