Danish officials have recalled three types of spicy noodles from a South Korean brand, warning that the flavours are too intense and might pose a risk of “acute poisoning”.
It has also linked the move to dangerous social media dares, one being a challenge to tolerate the high levels of the chili pepper extract capsaicin in the sauce, reports TIME Magazine.
The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) said the capsaicin content in the ramen noodles from Samyang Foods is so high that it poses a health hazard. “In Germany, several children have been hospitalised with poisoning after being challenged to eat strong chili chips.”
The agency said that the amount of hot chili in the Samyang noodle products is even higher than that in chili chips.
The “One Chip Challenge” was a global social media trend, in which young people ate a single spicy Paqui tortilla chip. A Massachusetts teen who had a congenital heart defect died after participating, according to reports.
The Danish agency recommended that the “spicy and hot chicken” flavours in the ramen products from Samyang should be returned to stores or thrown away, and warned that consumers could experience symptoms like burning and discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and high blood pressure after eating them.
Henrik Dammand Nielsen, head of the Danish DVFA, demanded that stores remove Hot Chicken Stew, Buldak 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, and 2x Spicy & Hot Chicken from their shelves.
Samyang Foods is one of South Korea’s main food manufacturers, creating the country’s first ramen in 1963 and now exporting halal products to nearly 80 countries, including its instant noodles
.
Buldak 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, one of the flavours for which Denmark issued a recall, was ranked number two on a list of the top 10 spiciest instant noodles in 2024 by The Ramen Rater, a blog that reviews instant noodles from around the world.
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