Should Malaysia have a noodles index too?

Since yesterday I tried to search this news on the web, but to no avail.

It was on TV news the other day and since I am also an Instant Noodles lover, it struck my puny mind to write or comment something about it.

Today I accidentally found it on a link on MC's Blog Review - Awas kepada penggemar mi segera, which brought me to this Sinar Harian online news titled: Jauhi mi segera elak penyakit kronik: CAP

I made a search for an English version of the news report , but no can do ~ sigh! It seems like the local English news/media isn't interested about what CAP has to offer. Or for them it could be just another one of those ~ "Ah! the same old exposé by that Idris guy!"

So, since the report dalam omputih dah tak dak, let's make do for the Malay version saja lah!:

Presiden Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP), S M Mohamed Idris berkata, kajian CAP ke atas 10 sampel mi segera mendapati tiga daripadanya mengandungi natrium melebihi 1,000 miligram sedangkan saranan untuk orang dewasa dan kanak-kanak berusia empat tahun adalah 2,400 miligram sehari.

My simple translation: CAP President, S M Mohamed Idris said from a study they conducted with 10 samples of instant noodles (sold locally ~ I assume), they found that 3 contained more than 1,000 mg natrium. The required (limit) consumption of natrium for adults and children (above 4 years) is 2,400 mg a day (which doesn't make sense yet to me, maybe typo error kot!).

Okay, there are three things that excites me to give my POV here.

The first is that it involves our health and the other our economy. Both are actually intertwined. The third although is less important, but actually is crucial in solving the first one, and it can also help resolve the second, but since the project is still on the drawing board (as in mass-produced and made available locally), we can only dream it will be our savior, say 20 years down the road (no, I'm just kidding).

Okay, first it is true that consuming (eating-lah) instant noodles is unhealthy.

No need scientific proof or all the evidence based bull-shit rhetoric to back this claim. Even a primary school kid who learns basic science can tell you that the high contents of monosodium glutamate in a cooked instant noodles is detrimental to health.

Now it seems like CAP has found that the high contents of natrium or sodium is another unhealthy culprit. What is sodium in simple words? Salt lah!. Garam berlebihan memanglah bahaya untuk kesihatan! Patutlah English news media tak nak buat report! Benda recycle!

A cooked instant noodles, soup style is said to contain more than 60% U.S. RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) of 1,200-1,440 mg. In some cases (brands), it is found that a bowl of cooked instant noodles contained more than 3,000 mg natrium (more than 100%). Refer here.

So, selesai bab satu and now for the second chapter.

Now, why is it that after knowing all these unhealthy cliched infos, we still melantak Mee Maggi and the like, as if tak dak benda lain dah nak makan.

There are two reasons for this (healthy) advise ignored or go unheeded as far as Malaysians are concerned.

The first is lazy-lah (malas nak masak, malas nak pi pasar, malas nak stok barang basah, malas nak keluaq pi makan kat kedai).  So, nak senang cerita melantak Maggi Mi lah. Then, nak bagi benda Allah (rezeki) tu berkhasiat sikit, kita tambahlah sayur, cendawan, udang, ikan bilis, telor dan apa-apa yang ada dalam fridge. So, taklah rasa guilty sangat.

The second reason is ongkosnya short ~ Malaysians, some of which are living below the poverty line, can't afford the luxury of having a nourished cooked meal 2 or 3 times a day. The only other alternative is a hot home cooked noodles which cost below RM1.00. Pekena pulak dengan teh-o panas buat sendiri, kosnya cuma 20 sen kut!

So, since many Malaysians nowadays prefer to cook their own instant noodles because they live below the (relative) poverty line, shouldn't we too have the 'Indeks mi segera' or Mama Mee Index like Thailand as an economic barometer to gauge the pace of our economy?

In Thailand circa 2005, when the economy gets bad, the sales of Mama, the country's top-selling brand of instant noodles, shoot up, according to economists and businesspeople there. Maybe here, in Malaysia we too can use Maggi, the top selling instant noodles as the equivalent for research.

Okay, enough about that, which also concludes my second chapter for this posting. You want to know more about the Mama Mee Index, pi carik sendiri.

The last one is about USM's research on the healthy noodles or Neodles, which is said to be safe for diabetics. It seems convincing enough to me, since it was developed by food scientist. But where can we find these Neodles, or whatever its brand name is?

School of Industrial Technology lecturer Associate Prof Azhar Mat Easa said the product was friendly to diabetics, weight-watchers and the obese. Azhar also said there were plans to export Neodles if Malaysians took to the product.

The news report found in the USM news portal said it would hit the local market in February this year. But now it is already the end of April. Of course we would like to try it, if it taste as good, but where can we find Neodles?

This is among the problems plagueing products developed by local scientist and researchers. Ada angin ada ribut, tapi tak dak hujan. 

Habis satu entry.
Nak balik makan Mi Maggi! Ada dua paket lagi kat rumah.