Why has Denmark banned spicy Korean noodles?

Variety, they say, is the spice of life. But the Danish government feels too much spice is unhealthy.

Denmark recently removed several spicy ramen noodle varieties made by the popular South Korean brand Samyang Foods from Scandinavian stores, citing spice levels that were considered too high for consumers.

In a statement earlier this week, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration urged consumers to throw away or return packets of Samyang Foods' Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen 3x Spicy, Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen 2x Spicy, and Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stew Type, sales of which are now prohibited. It's the first and only country to take such a move.

The decision to recall these products appears to be proactive, aiming to safeguard the well-being of the public.

But the Danish government highlighted children as a reason for the recall, citing the dangers of a social media challenge where children dare each other to withstand high levels of heat from popular snacks or foods such as the South Korean brand's well-known 'fire' noodles.

"The noodle dishes marketed as extremely strong must no longer be sold because consumers and especially children risk acute poisoning," the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said on June 11. "The capsaicin content is so high that it can pose a health hazard."

It did not say if any particular events in the country had prompted the decision to ban the products. However, according to the agency, a perplexed consumer had enquired whether selling Samyang Buldak noodles in Denmark was legal.

After assessing the products for their spice levels, it concluded that the Korean noodles are "harmful to health" because of what it says is an overly high dose of capsaicin. Capsaicin is the naturally occurring ingredient in chilli peppers that accounts for the heat in food.

Denmark did, however, cite instances from Germany where a number of people reportedly required medical attention after participating in challenges like the internet-famous One Chip Challenge by American tortilla chip brand Pacqui and the Hot Chip Challenge by Czech Republic-based HOT-CHIP Company.

The challenge involves eating a single extremely spicy chip made with some of the hottest peppers in the world, including Carolina Reaper peppers.

In November last year, The Berliner reported that five young people were admitted to the Virchow Clinic in Berlin after doing the challenge, with one teenager, due to pre-existing conditions, placed in the intensive care unit.

In the US last September, a teen in Massachusetts who had a congenital heart defect and participated in Paqui's One Chip Challenge died of cardiopulmonary arrest "in the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration," according to the autopsy report from the Chief Office of the Medical Examiner.

"It is possible that with significant stimulation of the heart, the muscle beyond the bridge suddenly had abnormal blood flow ('ischemia') and could have been a cause of a severe arrhythmia," chief of cardiology at Tufts Medical Center James Udelson told AP news agency at the time of the 14-year-old's death.

"There have been reports of acute toxicity with capsaicin causing ischemia of the heart muscle."

Paqui removed the product from the shelves voluntarily following the teen's death.

Spice levels

Excessive levels of spiciness can lead to symptoms that may include burning sensations, discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and high blood pressure.

These can be especially risky for children and frail adults, which is why Danish officials are demanding shops remove Samyang Foods products from their shelves, said Henrik Dammand Nielsen, head of the Danish Food and Drug Administration's unit.

Carolina Reaper peppers, which is used in Paqui's chip, clocks in at 1.5 million Scoville units, a scale that indicates the degree of spiciness by measuring concentration of capsaicin.

For comparison, the habanero pepper has about 150,000 Scoville units, while jalapeno peppers have about 5,000 heat units.

Samyang Foods' Buldak instant noodle line, on the other hand, known as 'fire noodles' for their extreme spiciness, measures lower on the scale. According to The Korea Times, the spiciest product, Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen 3x Spicy, has a 13,000 Scoville unit rating.

However, Nielsen claims the quantity of hot chilli is even higher in the investigated noodles than in the chilli chips, "which have previously led to poisoning injuries among children in Germany," according to the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration's statement.

Meanwhile, a shop owner who sold spicy Korean noodles in Copenhagen said the ban is "ridiculous" and has no "reasonable justification".

"The current justification is that the product contains too much capsicum, which is a natural substance in chilli peppers," Rubin Truong said in a video interview while removing packets of the noodles from his store shelves.

"In other words, the product is being recalled because it's spicy. I have received a report from the Danish Food Administration, and in the report, it says that this product is just as spicy as fresh jalapenos and tobasco," he added, noting that the agency has not provided any guidelines or standards on how spicy food can be.

The Buldak instant noodle variants are not only popular in Korea but have also been a favourite worldwide for several years, especially after social media users took on the Fire Noodle Challenge, downing the spicy noodles as fast as possible.

"If there were a health concern, it should've already been an issue here in South Korea," Min Ji Jun, a 26-year-old office worker in South Korea. "There is still high demand, so I am not sure whether there really is a health concern."

In May of this year, shares of Samyang Foods surged by 30 percent to a record high, according to news reports, more than doubling the company's stock this year, and increasing its market share value to about $2.5 billion. This was in part thanks to rapper Cardi B, who posted a video on social media featuring the Buldak Carbonara Hot Chicken, which is not included in the recall list.

While the Buldak noodles are known to be unbearably spicy for some, many enjoy the irresistible heat they pack.

"They really pack a punch. You eat one fork and think, well that's spicy. Then it gets worse and worse over the course of six minutes and then suddenly boom, your mouth is not on fire anymore. Rinse and repeat," a user posted on Reddit. "It actually is quite fun to eat from time to time."

Social media users have largely been leaving teasing comments about Denmark's decision to halt sales of the beloved noodles.

"The Danish palate is so bland that they even find a pinch of black pepper spicy," said one Reddit user.

Samyang Foods seemingly poked fun at the decision as well, when it said in response to the news that the products were not being recalled because of quality issues, but because local authorities thought "they were too spicy and could potentially cause problems."

As another Reddit user said, "A warning label and an advisory for parents would be enough. It's not like bleach and alcohol has been taken off the shelf, but those are dangerous to kids too."