Moderation: the healthy choice
In the 40 years since instant noodles first appeared on the market, sales have risen steadily, but so has the number of news reports of the adverse aftereffects of eating instant noodles. The industry has long been unable to allay the general public's suspicions about the health effects of instant noodles. Many housewives have nagging doubts and won't let their children eat too many instant noodles.
One cautionary tale involves an American student at Tunghai University in 1983 who, having difficulty communicating in Chinese, relied on instant noodles for sustenance. On Sundays she would eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After eating like this for a whole month, she began to lose much of her hair.
Many nutritionists have finally come round to telling the media that it is best not to eat too many instant noodles. The reasons are that they have a high salt content and can cause high blood pressure, they contain preservatives that may cause cancer. Also, some unscrupulous manufacturers make their noodles using waste cooking oil, and there are worries that eating this oil can lead to digestive tract disorders and other ailments.
As doctors are quick to point out, besides the tendency of fatty foods to oxidize and spoil, instant noodles also have a very low vitamin value. People who eat them too often can develop a vitamin deficiency.
Yet the fact that over the years such fears and doubts about instant noodles have not been allayed has not had a significant effect on instant noodle sales. The main reason is that people generally eat them as snacks rather than as a food staple.
Do instant noodles actually contain preservatives? Lu Yi-fa, professor of Nutrition and Food Sciences at Fu Jen Catholic University, explains that the reason instant noodles keep for half a year is that they are fried in oil and contain little water. Their long shelf life is not, as the general public suspects, due to preservatives.
Nonetheless, Lu Yi-fa reminds consumers that Taiwan's hot and humid climate is the great enemy of food preservation. Because instant noodles are fried in fat during manufacture, they can easily oxidize and produce an odd flavor. To prevent this, manufacturers often add an antioxidant to the noodles or the oil. Paste and sauces packed in aluminum bags are often sterilized at high temperatures. Instant noodle products must conform with a Department of Health regulation that stipulates an antioxidant content of less than 200 parts per million.
Wei Lih's Sichuan-style noodles with black bean sauce hold a big share of the market.