Urgent warning issued amid rise in children suffering life-changing burns from US-favorite snack

For just a few dollars and a couple of minutes in the microwave, instant ramen makes an easy lunch or a tasty snack.

But even a minor spill can cause major third-degree burns. 

Injuries caused by the scalding hot soup made up nearly 40 percent of all burns treated at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital over the last couple of years.

And at the University of Chicago’s Burn Center, 31 percent of severe burns over a decade were caused by the seemingly innocuous cup of soup.

Now, burn unit doctors are warning that just half a second of contact with the scalding water can cause severe damage that could land a child in the emergency department.

Instant ramen made in the microwave heats up to 300 degrees, far past boiling point. Less than half a second of contact with liquid at this temperature can cause third-degree burns

The warnings come on the brink of a new school year, which will see millions of children fill their lunchboxes with snacks, including a potentially devastating cup of noodles. 

Oklahoma University Health Trauma burn coordinator and nurse Denni Wilson told KOCO 5: ‘It takes less than half a second at that temperature to create a third-degree burn.’

Water’s boiling point is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. But in the microwave, that temperature can exceed 300 degrees.

Ms Wilson said: ‘What we see is kids that are using the microwave by themselves and, usually, the microwaves are hotter than they normally are in a house.

‘And they're reaching up to pull them out, and they're hotter than they expect them to be.’

Ms Wilson ran the numbers over the past few years, and found that, out of 228 burns, 86 were from ramen noodles. 

Most patients were middle school children or older, but kids as young as 18 months will sometimes knock a bowl off a counter and burn themselves.

The burns she has seen in the OU Health unit resemble grease burns. In addition to blistering, the burns cause swelling and peeling. 

If blisters break or the skin is damaged, there is an increased risk of infection, which appears as increased redness, swelling, and pus.

She has since started an awareness campaign at OU Health called the Ramen Noodle Program and hands out ramen that comes in packets, not cups.

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She said: ‘Since 2021 when we launched this, to date, I've given out over 16,500 Ramen noodle packages, and we have gone from 38 percent of our total burns being Ramen noodles to now 11 percent.’

‘You need to seek medical attention if you notice blisters,’ Wilson said.

UChicago researchers similarly quantified the considerable impact that a boiling cup of noodles can have on an unsuspecting child. 

Researchers at the university’s Burn Center collected burn patient data from 2010 to 2020.

Out of the 790 cases examined by the team, 31 percent were linked to instant noodles. Additionally, unsupervised children faced an increased risk: 40 percent of the burns from instant noodles happened when children were alone at the time of the incident.

Dr Sebastian Vrouwe, senior author of that report and a professor of surgery at UChicago Medicine, said: ‘Anecdotally, it felt like every other child we were consulted on for a burn was injured by instant noodles, so we wanted to dive into the data to see what the trend really was.

‘The amount of heat contained in these noodles can easily cause second- and third-degree burns in anyone, but young children are particularly vulnerable due to their relatively smaller bodies and thinner skin.’

Burn experts say adults should always remove the noodles from the microwave to minimize spills and keep them out of reach until the liquid has cooled to around 120 degrees fahrenheit.