![Buldak 2 x Spicy Chicken Ramen cup noodles manufactured by Korean company Samyang are seen at a store in Randers, Denmark, June 13. EPA-Yonhap](https://newsimg.koreatimes.co.kr/2024/07/16/5d1e7184-55b9-4c09-a6da-959f58e407f6.jpg)
Buldak 2 x Spicy Chicken Ramen cup noodles manufactured by Korean company Samyang are seen at a store in Randers, Denmark, June 13. EPA-Yonhap
Buldak spicy noodles are back on shelves in Denmark after the food authorities there canceled part of their recall decision concerning the famous Korean instant noodles product, originally issued due to their extreme spiciness and consequent health risks.
The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration announced, Monday (local time), that two of the three products that had been recalled were not harmful to health, based on updated risk assessments.
"Based on the new analysis results and the DTU Food Institute's updated risk assessment, the administration concludes that two of the products, Samyang Buldak 2x Spicy Hot Chicken and Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Stew, do not contain capsaicin levels as high as those reported by the distributors in the marketing," the Danish administration said in a press release.
The DTU Food Institute, part of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), is a national research institution focused on food science and technology, including food production, processing and consumption.
"Therefore, the two products are no longer considered harmful to health and can be marketed again in Danish stores," the administration added.
However, the Danish authorities maintained the recall decision on Buldak 3x Spicy Hot Chicken, the spiciest product in the Buldak line, stating that it is still believed to be harmful to health. They cited the high capsaicin level as posing a risk to consumers developing acute poisoning upon consumption.
The administration noted that the poison hotline had received reports of 14 cases following the consumption of 3x Spicy Hot Chicken noodles, with symptoms including stomach pain and vomiting.
The U-turn decision comes about a month after the Danish food authorities pulled the three instant noodle products from the shelves on June 12, citing a risk of acute poisoning due to the products' high capsaicin content.
Announcing the recall, the authorities expressed concerns that Buldak noodles, often consumed by children and young people as part of spicy noodle challenges, could lead to acute poisoning.
This marked the first recall case due to the spiciness of the globally popular spicy noodles, according to the noodle manufacturer Samyang Foods. Buldak noodles are currently exported to approximately 80 countries, in the North American, European and Southeast Asian regions.
Samyang Foods welcomed the Danish government's decision to cancel the recall, Tuesday, stating that it had requested the Danish authorities to conduct a more objective assessment of the noodles, in cooperation with Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
"Through this issue, we have been able to re-examine the standards for spiciness in each country around the world. Since Buldak spicy noodles is a leading brand of Korean food exports, we will offer even more systematic and safer products in the future," the food firm said in a statement.
![Samyang Foods' Buldak Spicy Ramen and other instant noodles are displayed at a grocery store in Seoul, May 19. Yonhap](https://newsimg.koreatimes.co.kr/2024/07/16/12daa773-01ad-421c-8685-5d265b640f08.jpg)
Samyang Foods' Buldak Spicy Ramen and other instant noodles are displayed at a grocery store in Seoul, May 19. Yonhap
The Buldak instant noodle line, sometimes referred to as "fire noodles" for their extreme spiciness, starts with the original product at 8,706 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). The Scoville scale indicates the degree of spiciness by measuring the concentration of capsaicin. Buldak 2x Spicy Hot Chicken has an SHU rating of 10,000, and Buldak 3x Spicy Hot Chicken has an SHU rating of 13,000.
In its initial assessment report, the Danish food administration found that the levels of total capsaicin in a single pack of the three types of Buldak noodles are similar to or higher than those in a Paqui Carolina Reaper chip, an extremely spicy tortilla chip that led to many hospitalizations in Germany.
The One Chip Challenge became a global social media trend where participants ate the super spicy Paqui chip and attempted to refrain from drinking water for as long as possible.
According to the report, the capsaicin levels were calculated based on the Scoville scale information disclosed on Danish retail websites selling the noodles, rather than the noodles themselves, as no specific measurements of capsaicin or total capsaicin content are provided by the manufacturer.