Watch out for the instant noodle cup soup!

In recent years, there have been articles, studies, and indeed lawsuits related to, yes, instant cups of soup. NPR did an article about this that caught my attention in December 2011. You ask, what’s the deal with that? The deal is that children suffer countless serious burns from accidentally spilling their soup cup on themselves. Years after this article, little has changed. These burns are serious, they don’t just heal with a little cold water and a kiss. We are talking about second and third degree burns that require significant hospital stays. Often a child with noodle burns will have to undergo one or more surgeries!

The Chicago Tribune interviewed Stroger Hospital spokeswoman Maris Kollias, who reported that 30 to 40 percent of children treated for burns at her hospital were burned by hot soup.

Why are these burns so severe?

Noodle soup burns are more serious than water scalds, coffee scalds, and even other soup scalds. The reason, according to the Journal of Burn Care & Research, is that while the temperatures of hot soups, water, coffee, etc. can be the same temperature as noodles, noodles have a cooling curve that is much slower. Therefore, the noodles will retain their heat, stick to the skin, and cause much more severe burns than a quantity of liquid of similar temperature and volume.

The other part that makes noodle burns so bad is that children’s skin is thinner and more delicate. It doesn’t take that much relative heat or time to cause serious burns to children’s skin. Pajamas, underwear, and light clothing are of little help as they keep heat next to the skin, especially if the cup spills under the top or bottom of the clothing.

Treatment

Andrew John Holland published an article in The Journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries (June 2012) agreeing not only that children suffered significant burns from instant noodle soups, but that children received first aid for burns inadequate.

So let’s try to get everyone on the same page.

When someone gets burned – Do the following:

• immediately run cold water over the burn for at least 10 minutes.
• You’ll need to look at a watch to measure your time, as 10 minutes can feel like 10 years.
• Decide if it’s serious enough to go to the ER. Any open wounds or any areas of blistered burns that are larger than the patient’s own hands are ER qualifications.
• Any doubt should qualify a visit to the emergency room.
• Don’t be afraid to call 911 if necessary!

Please do not do the following:

• Do not apply ice directly to a burn.
• Don’t put butter or anything greasy on a burn.
• Do not put any ointment on a burn
• Don’t pop blisters (Yes, dads, this means you)
• Do not put any other condiments on a burn. We’re not making sandwiches here.

All jokes aside – many of the “home remedies” (butter, etc.) passed down to us from loving parents and grandparents are loving, but No Useful.

Perhaps with better treatment, these burns can lessen in severity.

What is better than treatment? – PREVENTION!

While much effort has been put into preventing these instant noodle burns through doctor-on-demand design recommendations, to my knowledge, nothing significant has changed in the redesign of these noodle soup packages. Another study in the Journal of Burn Care & Research by Greenhalgh, 2006, blames the packaging for burns, indicating that the shape of a cup makes a big difference. Greenhalgh shows that containers that are shorter, have a wider bottom relative to their top, are much less likely to tip over.

conclusion

Instant noodles can be REALLY DANGEROUS, as well as unfairly tasty. So let’s be careful. Regardless of the pressure to change the packing, the packing has not changed.

• Let’s get the contents of those spilled packets out and put them in stable bowls to eat. Yes, that’s more than just washing, but it only takes a second to wash a bowl.
• Let’s watch our little ones while they eat. Not only are we concerned about burns, but choking is the second leading cause of death among children in the US!
• If that bowl spills, and some of them will. Run cold water over the burn right away. Proper first aid can make a difference!