Three fiery flavours of the Samyang instant ramen line are being withdrawn: Buldak 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, 2x Spicy & Hot Chicken and Hot Chicken Stew.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.
It’s unknown if any specific incidents have prompted the Danish authorities into taking action.
They were recalled because the level of Capsaicin has caused symptoms of poisoning in younger individuals. A consumer asked the board of food and safety if it was really allowed to sell the strong variants. They looked at them, and measured that they contained even more Capsaicin than the Hot Chip Challenge, which has caused hospitalizations in Germany. Combined with it being a TikTok/Instagram trend to try and eat them, food and safety decided to recall them
I really like the stew ones, x3 were just dumb
They were recalled because the level of Capsaicin has caused symptoms of poisoning in younger individuals
Is it really “poisoning” if some subset of consumers can’t eat something?Ok. It’s poisoning. Y’all really focusing on this part of my comment. We all know “the dose makes the poison” though. So “poisons” are clearly allowed to be sold as food.Like if some Danes are severely allergic to shellfish are they going to pull all crabs off the market?
If it’s temporary until labeling standards can be defined and implemented, that makes sense to me but just blanket removal seems like an overreaction.
To the doctor treating a patient, they don’t care about the legal definition. A poisoned patient is a poisoned patient.
Additionally, “causing symptoms of” a thing is a very different statement from “causing”. Covid causes symptoms of the flu, for example.
If it causes you to get nauseous and throw up, I would call it poisoning
I had a 1x spicy variant from these producers and it was pretty intense but still enjoyable, and I’m used to some heat but normally try to stay below 100.000 Scoville (ish) to still have fun. I can imagine if you are used to nothing spicywise and try their 3x spicy stuff you might get poisoning. Maybe the time is ripe to have a global rating or warning label for spicy foods. Everyone always already tries to convey the spicyness-level, especially for guests/tourists and such. Why not try to make a standard for spicy warnings, you could even have region variability like in clothing labels.
I found the x2 were pretty tasty, but it’d be unpleasant for a few hours before the ring of fire, and that’d usually disrupt my sleep a bit, so it wasn’t worth it. I just went with the regular spice level instead. I haven’t tried the x3, but it seems like it’s getting a bit silly by that point.
I had the (I think) black packet/hottest once and it was so boring. There’s no flavour behind the heat, very disappointing.
I’ve basically decided to give up on Buldak.
I like spicy food, generally, but I ate the black one too and it was all spice and no taste.
I then tried one that was supposed to be cheese flavour (and not even the spicy cheese flavour, just regular normal cheese) and that was also somehow just spicy in a really boring way.
The pink carbo one isn’t bad. Definitely has other flavours in there, not just spicy. That said, I also don’t add the entire sachet of hot sauce…
The Jajangmyeon(?) flavor is delicious
I thought the same about this brand. The grocery store I go to sells these and I was disappointed after buying a pack. Shin Ramyun is so much better.
What are you talking about, that stuff is delicious
I know right, they’re my favorite specifically because theyre not just spicy but delicious too! Especially the cheese one.
I’ve had a couple of the flavours and the cheese one (with an extra slice of American cheese stirred in, if you’re feeling cheesy), the classic one, and the habanero lime ones were my favourite so far.
Habanero lime is sooo good. The jjajang and the cream carbonara are also great.
I think a lot of people cook them wrong though and maybe that’s why they don’t think they taste good. It’s really important that you add the 1/4 cup water (remain 8 tbsp!) with the sauce packet at the end and then stir fry it until it’s thick again, this usually takes me about 2 or 3 extra minutes on med-high.
Sometimes I add cream cheese and a little mozzarella to the black packet, and/or a single egg near the end.
Personally I just cook the noodles, drain, and then add the sauce without cooking it further.
Maybe I should try it the way you said though!
They could also just be making it as a regular instant ramen soup, in which case I can imagine feeling like there’s no flavour other than the heat.
Never understand the appealing of extremely spicy foods. You can barely taste any flavor behind the hotness, you’re torturing yourself and causing literal harms to your intestines and guts microbes for a pack of fuckin instant noodles.
a pain tolerance builds up fast and people like the endorphin high that comes with the intense heat.
Saw a guy on YT eating hot wings with some sauce that’s rated like a million scoville, then the dude wipe his tear with his hands.
Poor dude, but the endorphins must have felt great.
I’m a chili head and find the sweet spot between 200-500k scoville when you go much higher, it’s basically just to see if you can do it.
I’ve tried so many spicy things and I have the same thoughts. The hottest thing that still retains flavors, imo, is a habanero. I’ve tried tons of peppers and the sauces featured on Hot Ones and, yeah they are certainly hot; but there’s not really any nuance and anything you put them on will taste entirely like the sauce. Even with just a dab.
My ex could barely taste the heat so they loved everything crazy hot by normal standards.
Not everyone has extreme reactions to it.
The 1x is super tasty, but yeah after that it’s just hot it doesn’t taste better. Dick measuring at that point
It’s a dick measuring thing.
Is anyone who enjoys something that you don’t measuring their dick, or does it have something to do with the inherent double entendre related to noodles?
I mean, when I eat spicy things I’m not even thinking about my genitals; I’m enjoying my food.
me, looking down at my pants Ohhhhh, so that’s why I’ve never felt the need to do any of that, I eat my noodles normally and I drive a subcompact, if you know what I mean. ;)
Yeah, I get it. You’re cordless, right?
Yeah, no cord. Just a huge battery attached.
I tried these noodles once, and once only. They have more in common with riot control agents than with actual food, and there’s no reason to eat them other than to demonstrate toughness.
I’m not saying Denmark is right in banning them, but they shouldn’t be sold alongside food. Perhaps keep them in a locked cabinet behind the counter, next to fireworks and such.
I tried them too recently and I really like spicy food, but they were just nasty.
I have friends that eat these daily
Unless it is demonstrated to be genuinely dangerous, it should be sold as normal. If no one liked them, they wouldn’t sell.
I was inspired to eat one now (different flavor so probably not as spicy). The spice is fine but the noodles are gross. I think I’m just going to use the flavor packets with Top or Maruchan ramen.
Yeah, alongside whatever other foods from other cultures that we dislike!
Dansk Fødevarestyrelse: bans product containing poisonous amounts of popular chemical
Rest of the world: laughs at Denmark for “not being able to handle spicy food” 🙄
Painful exposures to capsaicin-containing peppers are among the most common plant-related exposures presented to poison centers.[31] They cause burning or stinging pain to the skin and, if ingested in large amounts by adults or small amounts by children, can produce nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and burning diarrhea. Eye exposure produces intense tearing, pain, conjunctivitis, and blepharospasm.[32]
Ingestion of high quantities of capsaicin can be deadly,[37] particularly in people with heart problems.[38] Even healthy young people can suffer adverse health effects like myocardial infarction after ingestion of capsaicin capsules.[39]
Negative reactions to capsaicin generally only happen when people who are unused to spicy foods ingest something too spicy for their level of tolerance. So yes, this is Denmark “not being able to handle spicy food”. The problem here is probably people with zero tolerance trying to eat it as a ‘challenge’.
Negative reactions to capsaicin generally only happen when people who are unused to spicy foods ingest something too spicy for their level of tolerance
That’s a common misconception. One that leads to many poisonings of “seasoned veterans” every year.
So yes, this is Denmark "not being able to handle spicy food
No, this is the Danish food agency doing their job of minimizing preventable food poisoning.
The problem here is probably people with zero tolerance trying to eat it as a ‘challenge’.
Again with the common misconception. No matter how many times you’ve heard people who love spicy food say that doesn’t make it true and neither does YOUR repeatedly claiming it.
Source for YOUR claims?
Already posted several in the comment you originally replied to…
I tried the spiciest one and yeah it was insanely hot but nothing else. It was like eating noodles with capsaicin, no flavour at all.
My partner loves these and can’t understand how I find them painfully spicy. Like sure there’s some enjoyment to be had while slurping away, but as soon as I’m done the wheel of pain starts to turn and my body rebels against the assault with every cell seemingly screaming in unison
I suppose it’s my own fault. I mean look at the packaging: that’s a warning
This is like the best advertisement ever for the brand. Like they get the infamy without killing someone, basically became certified cool like the warning sticker on music albums in the 90s
In related news, US consumers were reported to have been hoarding Samyang instant Spicy & Hot ramen while watching episodes of Hot Ones.
What were they expecting ?
So any folks out there in Denmark, feel free to send those to me…for…“disposal”
I think these noodles may have given me diarrhea, but it’s also possible I just happened to have it for another reason. Either way I’m not in Denmark, so that wasn’t the incident.
I’ve had that one, in an import variety pack I bought in the states.
It did not fuck around. Was good. And my tastebuds grew back eventually.
Nanny state.
I have tried it, I don’t think it’s dangerous, it’s just too spicy for me.
