At least 10 Danes have reported illnesses such as vomiting after consuming Buldak’s spicy noodles, according to Danish authorities, Friday. The Korean instant noodles produced by Samyang Foods were recalled earlier this week in Denmark due to their excessive spiciness.
“One of the hospitals in Denmark has a specialized unit for poisonings. They informed us that they received about 10 inquiries from individuals experiencing symptoms such as abdominal pain and vomiting,” a Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said in response to The Korea Times’ inquiry about potential illnesses linked to the Korean noodles.
The official did not provide specifics regarding the timing or severity of the reported symptoms.
Confirming that the three Buldak noodle products are being recalled in Denmark, the official added that no further measures are currently planned regarding Samyang’s products.
On Tuesday (local time), the Danish food administration recalled three types of Buldak spicy noodles — Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen 3x Spicy, Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen 2x Spicy and Samyang Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stew Type — citing a risk of acute poisoning due to the high capsaicin content in these products.
Danish officials advised consumers who have these products to “discard them or return them to the store where they were purchased.” They also urged parents to contact the Poison Line if their child exhibits acute symptoms after consuming the noodles.
It remains unclear whether the 10 reported illnesses associated with the noodles directly prompted the Danish recall.
This marks the first instance in which Buldak noodle products, exported to approximately 80 countries, have been recalled for being too spicy.
Paqui One Chip Challenge chips are displayed at a store in Boston, Sept. 7, 2023. AP-Yonhap
According to an assessment report obtained by The Korea Times, the Danish food administration found that the levels of total capsaicin in a single pack of the three types of Buldak noodles products are similar to or higher than those in a Paqui Carolina Reaper chip, an extremely spicy tortilla chip that led to hospitalizations in Germany.
The One Chip Challenge became a global social media trend where participants ate the super spicy Paqui chip and attempted to refrain from drinking water for as long as possible.
The Danish authorities expressed concerns that Buldak noodles, often consumed by children and young people as part of spicy noodle challenges, could lead to acute poisoning.
Researchers at Denmark’s DTU National Food Institute found that Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen 3x Spicy, the spiciest variant in the Buldak product lineup, contains at least 113 milligrams of capsaicin per package. The institute, part of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), conducted the health assessment of the Buldak products at the Danish food administration’s request.
This figure exceeds the 11.8 to 59.3 milligrams found in an “extremely spicy chili-flavored chip, where a single chip was consumed as a challenge,” the report said, apparently referring to the Paqui chili chip.
Additionally, the researchers found that a package of Buldak Ramen 2X Spicy contains 69.6 milligrams of capsaicin, while the Buldak Hot Chicken Stew contains 42.4 milligrams.
“The calculated total capsaicin content per packet for the two noodle products, 3 x Spicy & Hot Chicken and 2 x Spicy & Hot Chicken, exceeds the levels that previously caused acute poisoning in children and adolescents who consumed a highly spiced chip,” read the report published on June 6.
The report also said that capsaicin levels were calculated based on the Scoville scale information disclosed on Danish retail websites selling the noodles, as no specific measurements of capsaicin or total capsaicin content are provided for the noodles.
The Paqui chip, now removed from shelves in many European countries, was made with the Carolina Reaper, known as the world’s hottest pepper, measured at more than two million Scoville heat units (SHU).
The Scoville scale measures spiciness by quantifying capsaicin concentration. For comparison, a jalapeno pepper stands between 4,000 to 8,000 SHU, while habanero peppers range from 100,000 to 350,000 SHU.
Samyang Foods’ Buldak instant noodle line, often called “fire noodles” due to their extreme spiciness, starts with the original package rated at 8,706 SHU, according to the food firm. Buldak Ramen 2X Spicy has a SHU rating of 10,000, and the spiciest product in the lineup, the 3X Spicy Buldak Chicken Noodle product, rates at 13,000 SHU.
An official at Samyang Foods told The Korea Times on Friday that the firm is reviewing Danish regulations and the capsaicin levels mentioned in the Danish report.
