Wendyl Wants to Know: Handy snack fails to deliver on taste

NZ Herald·

9 Oct, 2015 09:31 PM3 mins to read

Just Noodles 2 Minute Noodles. $1.50 per 75g. Photo / Wendyl Nissen

Opinion by Wendyl NissenLearn more

There's a reason the noodle aisle in your supermarket is chock full of hundreds of different snack noodle offerings. They are very popular because they take minutes to make, don't use any dishes if you buy them in a cup like these, and they fill up hungry adults and children in no time.

But many of them harbour loads of salt, fat and sugar as well as additives such as MSG. And many of them are high in calories. These looked like they may have solved many of the problems by bringing a reasonably healthy option to the pantry.

Just Noodles 2 Minute Noodles - $1.50 per 75g

Ingredients (in order of greatest quantity first)

Cake

Wheat flour
This is flour as you would use in baking.

Water

Palm oil
The label on the front of the packet says "sustainable palm oil" which means the oil is taken from a plantation established on land that did not contain significant biodiversity, wildlife habitat or other environmental values, and meets the highest environmental, social and economic standards. However I can't find any certification to prove this is sustainable, which would be good.

Salt
This product isn't too high in salt, giving you 116mg per serve.

Rising agent (500)
This is baking soda (500).

Stabiliser (412)
This is guar gum (412) which will be used to give the noodles a good texture and is a natural product.

Emulsifier (452,450)
These are diphosphates (452) and (450).

Flavour sachet

Tomato paste (32 per cent)
This forms the majority of the flavour in the sachet.

Water

Brown sugar
You will get just 2g of sugar per serving.

Onion

White vinegar

Chilli (6 per cent)

Garlic

Spice

Salt

Lime
This will be lime from the fruit not lime the rock.

Stabiliser (415)
This is xanthan gum (415) which is a natural gum.

Preservative (202)
This is potassium sorbate (202) which is neutralised sorbic acid.

My recommendations

These look great as there is no MSG, not too much salt and uses sustainable palm oil. They are also only 774kj per 132g serve which is a lot less than many others on the market. We bought all three flavours which includes Butter Chicken and Japanese Teriyaki. When the noodles are made according to instructions they fill only half the cup and the sauce is very thick and just not very nice. All three got a big thumbs down from my family.

If you're searching for healthy snack noodles simply buy the plain Highmark egg noodles fine cut in the noodle aisle and cook per instructions. Then mix up my sauce to pour on them. Mix together ½ cup of low-salt soy sauce, two crushed garlic cloves, 2 tsp chilli sauce (sweet for kids, a little hotter for adults), ¼ tsp sesame oil. Keep in a bottle in the fridge and pour on noodles as needed. Be aware that soy sauce has food acids and chilli sauces often have stabilisers. Search for the best on offer at your supermarket.