Buldak 2x is a regular (~1.5x a month) go to of mine. It's strongly spicy sure but I definitely felt like the thread above was heralding it in as some great destroyer of mouths and that hot praise was over the top too me. Selling the premise too hard. I would never have guessed it's so worthy of note, much less controversial/bannable.
“so high that they pose a risk of the consumer developing acute poisoning”
That seems odd. I would expect it to be potentially dangerous from extreme irritation, but I wouldn't think that was "poisoning". An amount required to be "poison" would be inedible.
Perhaps he's speaking loosely, or the definition of "poison" used by regulators is different from what I expected.
I think of poisoning as more systemic, less topical. Capsaicin acts as soon as it touches something.
I don't know if it enters the bloodstream or not, but since people eat it without more than a surface irritation, I would think that a quantity enough to cause systemic damage would be far too concentrated to touch, much less eat.
You know who likes spicy things? Americans! Last time I was there I had a hard time finding a ramen that wasn't spicy. I mean, I like peppers and pepper sauce, but over there is ridiculous. By the way, how the heck did jalapeños made their way all the way to Alaska? Every single food had jalapeños on it; pizza, burger, breakfast burrito... At some point I had to ask them to remove jalapeños from my food cause it was burning my back end when going to the bathroom (another thing I learned is real, I thought that was a joke).
It is definitely regional. I read in a book about grocery stores that the stores only stock about 10% of items that are uncommon for a given market area. Everything else is based on priory buying history, which is why you might find different items in different parts of the country for the same grocery brand; i.e. Kroger.
The 2x Ramen is one of the foods I pack into my BWCA camping trips. We started with the standard ramens, started experimenting with finds on Amazon, and then discovered the wonders within our local Asian store. The 2x, for me, is just on the edge of what I can handle. I was not even aware there was something hotter.
You would not want to get the paste on your fingers and rub your eyes. No different then a proper hot chicken wing sauce.
I saw some Bulwak noodles in the local Asian food shop but didn't buy them because my wife doesn't tolerate spiciness anymore because of health reasons. None of these noodles had omitted "spicy" on the package so I left them.
Noodle dishes marketed as extremely spicy can no longer be sold because they pose a risk of acute poisoning to consumers, especially children. The affected products are sold under the names Samyang Buldak 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, Samyang Buldak 2x Spicy & Hot Chicken, and Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Stew.
These extremely spicy Samyang Buldak noodle soups have been recalled due to their high capsaicin content from chili peppers, which can cause poisoning, particularly in children and vulnerable adults.
"Can you handle a spicy bowl of noodle soup?" This is the kind of challenge children and teenagers are taking on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The challenge involves enduring the soup's high capsaicin levels. However, the capsaicin content is so high that it poses a health risk. In Germany, several children have been hospitalized with poisoning after participating in similar challenges involving spicy chili chips.
"Large quantities of chili pose a risk, especially to children and vulnerable adults. Possible symptoms include burning and discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and high blood pressure. Therefore, we are now requiring stores to remove these products from their shelves," says unit manager Henrik Dammand Nielsen of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.
A concerned consumer inquired with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration about the legality of selling the red and pink Samyang Buldak noodles in Denmark. The DTU Food Institute has now assessed the products and concluded that the noodle packages are harmful to health.
"The amount of spicy chili in these noodles is even higher than in the chili chips that previously caused poisoning among children in Germany. Therefore, it is important for parents to be aware of these extreme noodle variants and avoid them," says Henrik Dammand Nielsen.
The recalled noodle products are Buldak Samyang 3x Spicy & Hot Chicken, Buldak Samyang 2x Spicy & Hot Chicken, and Buldak Samyang Hot Chicken Stew. Recalled products must not be sold, and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration urges consumers to discard or return them to the retailer.
Original in Danish:
Færdige nudelretter, der bliver markedsført som ekstremt stærke, må ikke længere sælges, fordi forbrugerne og især børn risikerer akut forgiftning. Produkterne sælges under navnene Samyang Buldak 3 x Spicy & Hot Chicken, Samyang Buldak 2 x Spicy & Hot Chicken og Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Stew.
Ekstremt stærke Samyan Buldak nuddelsupper er kaldt tilbage, fordi indholdet af capsaicin fra chili er så højt, at de kan give forgiftningsskader blandt især børn og svagelige voksne.
”Kan du spise en stærk omgang nudelsuppe?” Sådan udfordrer børn og unge hinanden på bl.a. TikTok og Instagram. Udfordringen består i at tåle suppens høje indhold af capsaicin fra chilifugter. Capsaicinindholdet er dog så højt, at det kan udgøre en sundhedsfare. I Tyskland har flere børn været indlagt med forgiftninger, efter at de er blevet udfordret til at spise stærke chilichips.
- Chili i store mængder udgør en risiko for især børn og svagelige voksne. Mulige symptomer er bl.a. svie og ubehag, kvalme, opkastning og forhøjet blodtryk. Derfor stiller vi nu krav om, at butikkerne fjerner produkterne fra deres hylder, siger enhedschef Henrik Dammand Nielsen, Fødevarestyrelsen.
Det var en forundret forbruger, som spurgte Fødevarestyrelsen, om det kunne være lovligt at sælge de røde og lyserøde Samyang Buldak-nudler i Danmark. DTU Fødevareinstituttet har nu vurderet produkterne, og konklusionen er, at nudelpakkerne er sundhedsskadelige.
- Mængden af stærk chili er endnu højere i de undersøgte nudler, end i chilichips som tidligere har ført til forgiftningsskader blandt børn i Tyskland. Derfor er det er vigtigt, at forældre er opmærksomme på de ekstreme nudelvarianter og undgår dem, siger Henrik Dammand Nielsen.
De tilbagekaldte nudelprodukter er Buldak Samyang 3 x Spicy & Hot Chicken, Buldak Samyang 2 x Spicy & Hot Chicken og Buldak Samyang Hot Chicken Stew. Produkter, der er tilbagekaldt, må ikke sælges, og Fødevarestyrelsen opfordrer forbrugere til at kassere eller returnere dem til forhandleren.
That may be true, but what about a small quantity of a potent chili? While I am not a fan of very spicy foods (quite mild if you don't mind) I think this is a waste of government resources and time. As long as the customer is clearly made aware the product they are purchasing is very spicy, that is enough.
I strongly disagree that they are wasting resources and time. One of the main missions of such organizations is to protect customers' health. You can look up, for example, the origins of the FDA and why it was introduced.
It's clearly not enough to make customers aware, given how easily TikTok creates trends especially among teenagers. There are no age restrictions, unlike with Red Bull and other high-caffeine drinks, so anyone can buy these products without understanding or caring about the potential consequences, even if they are clearly stated on the packaging (though I am not sure if they are).
It would be interesting to see if there is a body of research on the effects of capsaicin on health.
Buldak 2x is a regular (~1.5x a month) go to of mine. It's strongly spicy sure but I definitely felt like the thread above was heralding it in as some great destroyer of mouths and that hot praise was over the top too me. Selling the premise too hard. I would never have guessed it's so worthy of note, much less controversial/bannable.
I have not tried the 3x, did not know it existed.