With Nestle India taking Maggi noodles off shelves and nine variants of the noodles coming under scrutiny of the food regulator, health experts explained how all ready-to-eat noodles are harmful for children.
The Delhi government imposed a ban on Maggi noodles for 15 days on Wednesday and lifted nine samples of other brands of noodles. Maggi noodles came under the scanner for some samples having excess lead limits and the tastemakers containing monosodium glutamate (MSG) without proper labelling.
However, even if lead is used within the permissible limits, any brand of instant noodles is not the desired diet for children, said doctors on Friday. With growing number of children relying on such food items, there are increased cases of gastric problems and obesity, they added.
“The instant noodles come under junk food items. These lack the adequate balance of proteins, carbohydrates and minerals. Children heavily rely on different types of instant noodles for their tiffin. Over time, several children develop allergy to these food items because of the high content of chemicals and suffer from diarrhoea and rashes,” said Dr A P Dubey, head of the department of paediatrics, Lok Nayak Hospital.
Also, children tend to gulp the soupy noodles. “Food should be chewed for proper digestion. With children gulping these noodles, it leads to severe digestive problems,” he added.
Instant noodles or instant pasta are mostly pre-cooked, which does not make an ideal meal for children.
“There is a high content of vegetable oil which makes the item tasty. To increase the shelf-life and palatability of the product, there are several additives and flavouring agents which are used in all ready-to-eat noodles,” said Dr Nishant Wadhwa , paediatric gastroenterologist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
This has led to growing incidence of cases of children suffering from constipation, abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea and obesity, he added.
The instant noodles also have a high quantity of refined flour.
In cases where the products are projected as having high wheat content, it does not make the product any less harmful as the content of additives is intact, said doctors.
The use of MSG or such tastemakers exposes children to being carcinogenic, especially if they consume such food items daily.
“Increased lead consumption will lead to more absorption of lead in blood. This can lead to hyperactivity, reduction in intelligence and in extreme cases can lead to coma,” said Dr Sheffali Gulati, Chief, Child Neurology Division, Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS.