Instant noodle cups may pose serious burn risk: Report

Flickr/LWY

(CBS) Love instant noodles? Soup slurpers may be in danger, according to a new report.

A segment on NPR's "Planet Money," which aired Monday, said instant noodle soups can cause serious burns because of the cups' designs.

The cups are tall, lightweight, and have an unstable base, according to NPR, making them more likely to tip over.

For the report, NPR contacted 12 burn units at U.S. hospitals and found most victims of instant noodle burns weren't cheap college students, but children. Eight of the hospitals said they see this type of injury several times a week. One Washington D.C. hospital said during colder months they can see up to 6 patients a week with a severe soup-related burn.

Anna Beltran a nurse at the University of Southern California's County Hospital in Los Angeles used to enjoy the occasional cup of instant noodles herself, until she started working at the hospital's burn unit.

"Now I just absolutely cringe." Beltran said on the radio program. "I could be at a supermarket paying for my groceries, look behind me, and there's a mom with two young children buying a big pack of cup of noodles and I just can't help but ask her to please be careful."

Noodle soup is "strangely perfect" for causing serious burns, says NPR. Noodles conduct and retain heat longer than other foods, and are sticky, allowing noodles to cling to the skin, causing serious deep burns. A 2007 study in the Journal of Burn Care & Research showed hospital stays from noodle soup burns can be twice as long as stays from other hot liquids.

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told CBS News in an email that he's seen scald burns from soup cups on children's hands, fingers, arms, legs, and genital organs.

"Some serious enough that a number of toddlers required transfer to a burn unit," Glatter said.

He recommends that parents transfer the contents from the cups into a bowl to reduce potential for spillage, and should supervise kids when eating hot noodle soups.

Glatter also said parents "may want to consider other meal options for children and toddlers."

[GeneMODonnell]

I appreciate the efforts to prevent this sort of needless injury. We should protect children in reasonable ways. A smart manufacturer would modify the product as a sales gimmick.

But it is strange to me that we are so alarmed by 600 injuries (estimated) per year due to noodle burns, but do nothing about 200+ documented deaths and injuries every DAY due to firearms.

Why can't we sue Ruger and Smith and Wesson for that faulty design that causes so many injuries and deaths when the product is used AS INTENDED?

[tjx79]

A new cup design will not override parental responsibility. Who is giving these cups to toddlers-duhhh. Who would give any kid something with scalding hot water in it! Some parents don't want any accountability for their children and it doesn't end with toddlers. Since stupidity is not against the law (but it should be), some people need to make others responsible for everything. Be a parent-be a good parent-take responsibility for your children.

[zitaben]

That was our thoughts as well, if the parent does not see anything wrong with giving their small child a scalding cup of soup, then why blame the company?

[old_forester]

The cup design should be changed. Change it to look more like a bowl, than a cup. Please NOT the Yoplait design! When thrown away, Yoplait containers become head traps for small animals. Animal lovers have been trying to get that design off the market for years. "Please crush before disposal" on the container, hasn't solved that problem.

[rdinorscia]

The parents should be sued for stupidity. Common sense has gone this far out of the window in this day! Why would you serve your child food that is far to hot to eat? Things are going to be spilled be it placed in a bowl or a tub etc. You don't put a pot of boiling hot water on a kids lap. It is time we start to redesign society and our ability to use our minds to the proper way with use of making smart decisions. Hot= no touch.
Are we going to take electric sockets out of the home for fear that a child might put something in it? Or you can't feed your child mozzarella sticks because it can stretch and be a choking hazard? Hummmm let us sue the electricians and all the food companies because we have no clue how to act normal. Oh no more spaghetti either.. and while we are at it we will sue Ronzzoni for making a dangerous product that can be a choking hazard due to the pasta diameter and we have to boil it hot to cook it. Lets not forget Ragu for to much spices in the sauce. You never know it may cause you to cough taking in some sauce and choking or loose a contact that they need to reimburse you for.
Personally if a parent is ignorant enough to serve boiling hot liquids to a child they should be the ones on the end of a lawsuit and making them pay fines and redesign their parenting habits/ abilities.

[aleykat1]

Totally agree with Jaylah54. Instead of making a stink about the noodles and design flaws with the cups that have worked well for years, how bout the parents put their "special thinking helmets" on and let the stuff cool off to less than boiling before serving it to children.....

[TheRmaneRater]

I wrote an article about this... http://ramenrater.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/tipping-point-is-there-really-a-danger-from-cup-noodles/

[rwsmith29456]

Besides putting it in a bowl it needs to cool down some before given to children. I've burned my own mouth trying to eat the stuff too soon.

[Jaylah54]

Gee, who would have thought that pouring boiling water into a styrofoam cup would make it hot??

Seriously, is the human brain devolving that much?

[concernedparent123]

The study shows that these cups are uniquely dangerous and that kids (especially toddlers) are accidentally tipping them over. It isn't a difficult fix (think redesign to look like Yoplait - wider bottom) but manufacturers have been indifferent. If you would like to urge them on, sign this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/nissin-foods-usa-tell-noodle-soup-makers-redesign-their-cups-to-reduce-burn-injuries.