Denmark partially lifts recall on Korean spicy ramen

After recalling three flavors of Samyang’s Buldak instant noodles for allegedly being dangerously spicy, Denmark is bringing back two of the South Korean company’s products for those who can take the heat.

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration previously issued a recall on Buldak 3x Spicy Hot Chicken, 2x Spicy Hot Chicken, and Hot Chicken Ramen Stew, claiming that the capsaicin levels in a single package of the brand’s spicy noodles could poison consumers. Capsaicin is the chemical compound in chili peppers that gives them their spicy flavor. 

Denmark announced Monday that it is partially reversing the recall after an independent analysis of the noodles by the Veterinary and Food Administration and by the Technical University of Denmark National Food Institute. While Denmark still holds that the 3x Spicy Hot Chicken is dangerous for consumers, the other two flavors are back on Danish shelves. 

In a news release, the Danish agency said that the former recall was based on marketing information about the content of capsaicin in the instant noodles. Upon conducting an updated risk assessment, the National Food Institute found that seasonings in the two products do not contain the levels of capsaicin that were marketed. Samyang’s Buldak 3x Spicy Hot Chicken, however, still contains capsaicin levels that can poison consumers, it said. In particular, the agency was concerned about consumption by children. 

Noodle fans on social media have debated whether Buldak’s chili sauce packs are really too hot to handle. In a viral TikTok video, a person only pours a few drops of the spicy sauce into a bowl of noodles before throwing the packet away, writing in the text of the video, “I think we all have learned our lesson.”

The updated assessment measured the spice level of the seasonings using the Scoville scale, a system that measures spice through a food’s concentration of capsaicin. The scale places a jalapeño pepper at 2,000 to 8,000 Scoville heat units (SHU) and a cayenne pepper at 30,000 to 50,000 SHU. The Danish food agency measured the 3x Spicy Hot Chicken noodles at 13,000 SHU.

The Danish agency said that the nation’s poison control hotline has received 14 reports of symptoms that included abdominal pain and vomiting after consumers ate chili noodles, though it did not specify any brand or flavor.

Samyang, a company that says it introduced ramen to Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War, said earlier that the Danish agency issued the recall because of the spiciness of the product, not because of quality issues.

Samyang did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the recall was reversed.

After the recall was initially issued last month, Samyang fans defended the noodle brand and suggested that Denmark can’t handle the product’s spice. On X, one person described the recall as “News from the land of bland food.”

Now that the recall has been partially lifted, the products can be sold in Danish stores again. One fan celebrated the return of the noodle products to Denmark, writing on X, “THEY JUST LEGALISED SAMYANG NOODLES IN DENMARK AGAIN 😭😭😭.”