The Development of Instant Noodle in the World
Chinese people found the first noodle 5000 years since the Han dynasty. The noodle was made out of wheat flour. The wheat was so excellent source of carbohydrate and protein that they made noodle as their daily food. Day by day, Chinese people believed that noodle was the symbol of long life. Until now, Chinese people usually serve noodle during birthday celebrations and weddings. It becomes their tradition.
Coming from China, noodle became popular around the world. The first company that introduced noodle was Ando’s company. Until now, noodle is one of the most favorite foods that are eaten by people around the world. Not only Ando’s company, there are many other noodle companies in Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, even in Indonesia. The companies develop noodle into instant noodle. People around the world, especially the young generation, accept it because they need everything instant in their life, including their foods.
The most favorite Japanese noodle versions are ramen and udon. The noodle version from Hong Kong is wonton. Wonton noodles or wantan mee is a Cantonese noodle dish, which is popular in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. The dish is usually served in a hot broth, garnished with leafy vegetables (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia). The popular noodle version from Thailand is Bun Lau Thai Rice Vermicelli. In other hand, in Indonesia, there are some brands of noodle such as Indomie, Mie Sedaap, Nissin and Supermi. The most famous one is Indomie. There are two variations of noodle almost in all countries in the world. The first one is dry noodle. The second one is wet or soup noodle.
Instant Noodle Facts
Instant noodle is becoming popular and famous day by day. There are some reasons why instant noodle is becoming popular to eat. The first one is because there are many variations of noodle. The variations depend on the climate of each country. It is available everywhere based on the people around. For Indonesia, there are only two variations, the dry and the wet one. The second reason is about the price. Instant noodle is cheap and it is sold in economical price. This fact traps students who lack in cooking skill. Instant noodle also becomes a part of diet for them. It is accessible, cheap, and it tastes good. It becomes a favorite food because of its simplicity. It is fast to cook. People only need 3-5 minutes for cooking instant noodle. It is easy to cook. By reading the instruction behind the pack, people can make their meal by their own. A pack of instant noodle satisfies a hungry stomach for a long period time.
Have you ever stopped to read the label (the nutrition facts) before you eat the noodle? This is a simple question but it reminds us to understand what kind of food we are going to eat is. By reading the label, we know the ingredients that are contained in a pack of instant noodle. It helps people who have certain disease and it is useful to avoid certain addictive in the food.
There are some ingredients that are contained in a pack of instant noodle such as vitamin A, vitamin B12, calcium, dietary fibers, MSG, yellowish coloring, and small bits of vegetables. Some of them are good and some are bad.
Actually, eating noodle is not bad. The bad is the preservatives and in the noodle (Ms. De Juras, 2004). The preservatives are sodium and nitrosamine. A pack of instant noodle contains a high level of sodium. By eating noodle day by day, this kind of preservative will accumulate in a body. It is a contribution factor to the development of cancer in one’s body. Nitrosamine is also the same. It can also lead to cancer. In other hand, MSG is Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate and MSG, is a sodium salt of the naturally occurring non-essential amino acid glutamic acid. It is used as a food additive and is commonly marketed as a flavor enhancer (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia).
There are some effects from consuming MSG. The first one is burning sensation in back neck and forearms. The second one is numbness in back neck and the arms. The third is tingling. It caused warmth and weakness in one’s body. The indication can be felt in the face, temples, upper back, neck and arms. Based on Medline Plus (2009), numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or legs. The rest effects that are caused by consuming MSG are chest pain, headache, nausea, rapid heartbeat, and drowsiness. These all are dangerous for human body.
There are many disadvantages of eating instant noodle. The ingredients and preservatives can reduce ability of children under five to absorb nutrients. In addition, instant noodle brings negative effects for fetus. Many pregnant women who consume large amounts of instant noodles suffer miscarriages. The last is about the styrofoam that is used for noodle packaging. Styrofoam can cause cancer. (The Jakarta Post, 2008).
I know that almost of Indonesian people are noodle’s lovers. Because of that, I would like to give some advice for the readers. It is better for you to stay away from instant noodle. Do not eat instant noodle very often. The preservatives will accumulated and become a poison in your body. Nevertheless, if you want to eat it, it is better for you to add some vegetables. The vegetables will balance the ill effects of instant noodle. The most important thing is the way to cook the noodle. You have to cook it twice in the different boiling water. This way will help you to reduce the preservatives in it.
By writing this article, I just want to remind the students to stay away from instant noodle. Sometimes they think that eating instant noodle is the best solution in their busy time. Instant noodle is cheap and easy to cook. In fact, the consumers must take the risks from eating this kind of food. There are many negative effects and they are not in proportion to the economical price and the simplicity in it. It is better for us to avoid frequently consuming instant noodle. It will be much better if we decide to stop to eat instant noodle and back to eat vegetables. Eating vegetables is good for health. It can be an antioxidant to prevent cancer. It is also cheap and we can get much more advantages from eating vegetables rather than eating instant noodle.
By : Jeni Fan Allen (081214108)
Reference:
Chinese noodles. (2005). News.nationalgeographic.com: Chinese Noodles. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1012_051012_chinese_noodles.html
Letter: The Effects of Consuming Instant Noodles. (2008). Thejakartapost.com. Retrieved April 5, 2010, from http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/10/28/letter-the-effects-consuming-instant-noodles.html
Monosodium glutamate. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 22, 2010, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate
Numbness and tingling. (2009). Medline.gov: Numbness and Tingling. Retrieved May 24, 2010, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003206.htm
Wonton noodles. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 22, 2010, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonton_noodles
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