Parents of Preschoolers  Discussion Forum

Fast to cook, good to eat goes the line. Add to that, bad for health. Instant noodles like Maggi, Top Ramen and Wai Wai are loaded with fat of the sort that could trigger heart disease. They're also high in sodium.
The noodles also contain MSG which effects the childrens brain as it makes addicted to the food and ask for noodles again and again.
MSG is also linked to children doing poorly in academics and hyper behaviour.
But labels on instant noodles don't tell you this. Maggi, for instance, merely lists ingredients, including hydrogenated vegetable oil. Hydrogenation converts relatively healthy vegetable oil into solid fat containing artery-clogging trans fatty acids, or trans fats. Vegetable oils are hydrogenated to increase the shelf life of products made with them Ebiscuits, ready-made cakes and namkeen among them.

Trans fats shouldn't be consumed at all in any quantity, Esays nutrition expert Shikha Sharma. In the US, points out nutritionist Ishi Khosla, the government has moved to ask manufacturers to list details about trans fat contained in food.

Indian manufacturers aren't obliged to print such information on their packaging. Besides, Nestle, for instance, claims that its noodles are consumed as part of a balanced diet'E

Trans fats, according to the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, cause significant lowering of HDL or good Echolesterol and an increase of LDL or bad Echolesterol.

Traditionally, noodles were boiled. Instant noodles are deep-fried to remove the water and form them into blocks.

In India, two-minute noodles often target young children. Our consumer research shows that Maggi Noodles are consumed by children once a week on the average, Esays a spokesperson for Nestle.

Says Khosla: There is no awareness of just how harmful instant noodles are. EBut poor labelling isn't a problem with noodles alone. What's printed on packets is just part of the story Eoften, when it comes to your health, the less important part.

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SNACK ATTACK-I

** Maggi says only 4% of total calories come from harmful trans fats

** Top Ramen just says a serving has 44% of daily fat requirements

** Wai Wai claims each pack has 14.6 gm of fat

A. Dhar replied. Can't we boil the noodles in excess water and get rid of the fat by discarding the extra water, like we'd do for pasta???

Thanks for the informative article.

A. seema replied. It's a really gr8 article, very much helpful also. I too had heard about MSG, but not upto this depth.
thanks for the information provided
Mama replied. I was amazed reading your mail. My son really loves it very much he has it atleast twice in a week and as he is just 2&1/2 yrs old and is a very very fussy eater I give him maggie as thats the only thing that he likes very much. Really should stop it because he is anyway a hyperactive kid dont wnat him to be more hyper. Thanks for this mail