By Jayden Khuu '21
“Yo Jayden, can I have some Shin?” was how my ex-roommate, the greatly missed Arjun Khanna, started half of our study hours last year. This iconic product, made by South Korean company Nongshim, is an essential for a lot of us. But as we fill our bellies with this flavor-packed snack, we should be somewhat conscious of what we are actually putting into our system.
Here’s the nutrition label for a pack of Shin Ramen.
On a macronutrient level, one pack of Shin Ramen (120g) has 80 grams of carbs, 16 grams of fat and 10 grams of protein. They combine to give a total energy value of around 500 calories, which would account for 15-25% of the total energy expenditure of teenagers, depending on their respective activity levels. This would mean one, not eating anything else, could eat 4-6 packs of Shin Ramen a day without gaining weight! So why is Shin generally labelled “unhealthy”?
Upon further scrutinization of the nutrition label, one could see that Shin ramen contains strikingly high levels of sodium. Just one pack would have 1840 milligrams of it, making up 92% of the 2-gram daily intake recommendation by the World Health Organization. When sodium accumulates in our bodies, the body holds more water to dilute it. This increases our blood volume and consequently, the amount of work for the heart and the pressure put on the vessels. Over time, the extra work can stiffen blood vessels, leading to elevated levels of blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. With the high amounts of sodium in Shin, it becomes very easy to surpass the limit and harm our health.
Well sodium is pretty well known, what about the other ingredients in ridiculous chemical names?
After analyzing the list of dextrose (a form of glucose), potassium carbonate (white salt), maltodextrin (food additive used to add bulk), sodium carbonate (acidity regulator), sodium
phosphates (different salts), tocopherals (antioxidant), and disodium gunylate (food flavoring from fermeneted seaweed), it is surprising to realize Shin Ramen does NOT contain any of the harmful additives that is generally associated with instant ramen, most notably, tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ).
TBHQ is a petroleum industry byproduct used to preserve cheap processed foods. It has been shown to have shown that extended intake of TBHQ leads to neurological damage, increase the risk of lymphoma and cause liver enlargement. The FDA has currently restricted the amounts of to be under 0.02% of the fat content of the food.
This is the result of Nongshim’s commitment making Shin Ramen healthier. Since 2007, they have eliminated monosodium glucamate (MSG) from all their products by using natural flavors. To replace THBQ and harmful preservatives, Nongshim uses catechin extracted from green tea and natural tocopherol as antioxidants. As much as I do not want to promote Shin Ramen further, if you’re going to eat instant ramen, Shin is definitely one of the healthier choices!
Sources:
https://cspinet.org/eating-healthy/chemical-cuisine#tbhq
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=172.185
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/salt-reduction
http://eng.nongshim.com/pr/commitment
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+838
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