Denmark has recalled several spicy ramen noodle products by South Korean company Samyang, claiming that the capsaicin levels in them could poison consumers.
Three fiery flavours of the Samyang instant ramen line are being withdrawn: Buldak 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, 2x Spicy & Hot Chicken and Hot Chicken Stew.
Denmark’s food agency issued the recall and warning on Tuesday, urging consumers to abandon the product.
But the maker Samyang says there’s no problem with the quality of the food.
“We understand that the Danish food authority recalled the products, not because of a problem in their quality but because they were too spicy,” the firm said in a statement to the BBC.
“The products are being exported globally. But this is the first time they have been recalled for the above reason.”
It’s unknown if any specific incidents in Denmark had prompted authorities there to take action.
The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said it had assessed the levels of capsaicin in a single packet to be “so high that they pose a risk of the consumer developing acute poisoning”.
“If you have the products, you should discard them or return them to the store where they were purchased,” it said in a statement.
It also emphasised the warning for children, for whom extremely spicy food can cause harm.
The notice has sparked heated discussion online with many amused reactions from lovers of spicy food. Many have made assertions about the Danes’ low tolerance for spice.
“I had a friend from Denmark who thought tasteless breaded shrimp with a little bit of ground pepper on it was too spicy. Not surprised they think this ramen is poison,” read one top-liked comment on the Reddit r/Korea group.
Samyang said it planned to “closely look into the local regulations” in Denmark and respond after that.
The noodles don’t appear to have been recalled before in any other country, nor have there been other safety warnings issued.
Capsaicin is the chemical compound in chilli peppers which creates the burning feeling.
When humans eat peppers, the capsaicin is released into saliva and binds on to receptors in the mouth.
Samyang is a major South Korean food manufacturer which brands itself as the first company in the country to create instant noodles, back in the 1960s.
Sounds like mostly a social media panic type thing, this is the stuff that has been memed about all over twitter and tiktok right?
I think I saw a post in Danish also that was really really heavy handed on the danger to children thing, claimed that it was being recalled due to kid(s) in Germany eating it and starting to puke or getting high blood pressure.
Like, the package shows you a chicken breathing fire on it
I know media literacy is at an all time low, but chicken on fire should be a universal warning
Yeah but in Nordic countries we put similar imagery on products that have a homeopathic amount of capsaicin in them
Oh look it’s godzilla!
And Godzooky!
I mean if this does end up being a “protect the children from social media dares” type panic then that’s just plain irrelevant to the people deciding this shit, cause it would just egg on whatever kids are buying it to try out the epic spicy tiktok ramen.
Yeah, as a former child, I can say with confidence that a ban would just make me want it more
I did get a bunch of Jolt Cola after most stores stopped carrying it after it was blamed for giving some kids heart attacks
Yeah, I learned from these noodles that “cartoon character breathing fire” means they’re serious about the warnings.
Yeah that was the food administration’s post. They say that “too much capsaicin has had kids in Germany admitted to the ER” but they dont specifically talk about samyang or even just ramen. Just some vague product with a lot of capsaicin. They also mention that its marketed to kids and that it’s hard to know how it will affect their children, which is like???
The stuff in Germany was one kid sent to the ER after eating one of these carolina reaper chips on a dare in school - you know, the ones where it’s just one chip in the entire coffin shaped box, that are intentionally marketed to people who want to brag about how much spice they can handle. The scoville on buldak aren’t anywhere in the same ballpark as that and honestly i think all of this is kinda ridiculous when there’s hot sauces where one drop too many can be enough to make an entire pot of chili too spicy for most people. Capsaicin is a thing that just exists in nature and in an untold number of preparations that are more powerful than a sauce package in instant ramen. I’m not familiar with buldak noodles myself because they aren’t vegan afaik, but a friend of mine said that the 3x ones “are tasty”. Granted, she once made a ramen place in our town run out of chili oil, but it was really weak chili oil.
The 3x ones ARE tasty. I just need to add a bunch of fat to the broth to deal with the spicyness
The child marketing claim is why I assume this is about social media and tiktok shit, where the Food Admin can’t tell the difference between viral memes and company marketing.
The ER thing I have to imagine is just parents taking their kids there after finding out they puked and/or felt ill after eating spooky foreign food.
Yeah apart from eating a Carolina reaper, I’ve never heard of anyone who ACTUALLY needed to be admitted to the ER. An upset tummy can hurt a lot and be scary for a child, but its not dangerous. Especially not with ramen because if its dangerous then you wouldn’t be able to finish a bowl of it, right?
The ER thing happened at a school, i could imagine that a teacher just decided they need to call an ambulance to avoid liability when they saw one of their students have a strong reaction to the stuff.