They say parting is sweet sorrow. This is more like over-salted. I know it’s a real bummer for millions across the country – going by your sales figures — that you’re off the shelves. To be honest, I can’t say I’m displeased at your departure. Personally, your slithery texture and synthetic flavour has never appealed to my taste-buds, so I haven’t opened up more than, say, a dozen packets in all the time you’ve been in this country. My concern has been that so many people, especially children, have been slurping away at instant noodles, believing them to be the greatest food invention since sliced bread which, by the way, isn’t all that good for us either.
Let’s, for the moment, ignore the fact that you contain high levels of MSG – the safety of which is still being debated – and that the lead contamination happened from external sources. Still, there’s not much good that you hold within that bright yellow packaging, considering you’re all starch that’s been deep-fried and synthetic flavouring agents. Even you know that all that stuff about multi-grain and noodles with vegetables is so much hokum. Those little orange bits and shrivelled green things are not carrots and peas.
Hungry children would do so much better to eat ‘real food’ than two-minute meals. We are a country with a rich culinary tradition and every home has a repertoire of healthy, delicious snacks. Or had, until you turned up in our kitchens. We could return to eating chapati rolls, peanut chikki, fruit, a couple of idlis, a glass of lassi when we need a quick snack or a pick-me-up. Through clever advertising, you’ve made us believe that convenience is all when it comes to eating. It isn’t. We shouldn’t be feeding empty starch to our children. Studies have shown what you’ve done in places like Mexico, laying the ground for obesity and nutrition deficiency amongst children who once ate their traditional meals of beans and rice.
You’re probably heartened by arguments which maintain that we breathe polluted air and drink unclean water, so why ban just instant noodles. That’s the point, you see. We may not be able to control air pollution or the purity of our water. At least, we can choose what we eat. I’m glad you aren’t among the available choices anymore.
