FOOD Ramen went bad!

Great Northwet

Great Northwet

Veteran Member
Several prep food threads lately about "good" experiences with foods eaten after the 'best by' dates, so I thought I should put one up that didn't work out so well.

As the title states, It's Ramen cup'o'noodles-really a crap food-but get's you through the day when camping/fishing, or something like that. Just boil water and pour it in the styro cup and let it sit for 3 min. or so. Should taste like chicken noodle soup.

First 2 bites were just like that, then realized that the noodles were melting into mush. I looked at the color of the broth, and it was somewhere between brown and gray. I dumped 2 nearly full costco cases of the crap over it.

So just a reminder to all of us that not everything is really storable, afterall.

Cases were purchased in oct. of '09, and stored in a root cellar with temps. about 55deg. year 'round. Sealed in they're original plastic casing.
 
S

SackLunch

Dirt roads take me home
I left a package of regular ramen (not in the cup) in a desk drawer at work. It was at least a year old and it had a slightly "off" taste. I agree--ramen noodles are not a long-term prep item.

Has anyone had any experience with dry packed or vacuum packed ramen?
 
packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
The noodles are deep fat fried and go rancid and quite quickly, even mice won't eat them... that should tell you something.

K-
 
Red Baron

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
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I have two mixed cases of the "Maruchan" brand (which is made in the USA btw) and I just noticed none of them have a use by date that is longer than a year from when I bought them.

I had never even thought to look at the dates before.
 
Great Northwet

Great Northwet

Veteran Member
Dennis Olson said:
What brand? There are many different ones.
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Glad I still have a few to specify; thanks Dennis.

Nissin Cup Noodles, half flat of Chicken flavor, half Beef flavor(combined to 1 case). Best by date is:09/17/10. Purchased at Costco in oct. of '09. I Kept in original packaging.

-Mine also say: Made in USA.
 
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eXe

eXe

Techno Junkie
My normal ramen soups have never gone bad. I just ate one from 2003 the other day and it tasted just like new. I store them in rubbermaid totes in my store room and rotate them out pretty frequently, but I have yet to have a bad one. mind you these are the ones in packages, bricks of noodles you boil in water and then toss in the flavor pack.
 
P

prepgirl44

Veteran Member
Yep, I have had the square packages Marchuan brand (not the cup thingies) go stale on me in about a year, maybe less...nasty tasting when they are old. I finally went to plain old noodles in the package from the asian aisle and add some boullion. Tastes as good or better and doesn't have all the chemicals in it. (And no MSG!)
 
D

Double_A

TB Fanatic
eXe said:
My normal ramen soups have never gone bad. I just ate one from 2003 the other day and it tasted just like new. I store them in rubbermaid totes in my store room and rotate them out pretty frequently, but I have yet to have a bad one. mind you these are the ones in packages, bricks of noodles you boil in water and then toss in the flavor pack.
Click to expand...

I have the bricks with a packet of seasoning they are several years old and taste fine. I would imagine the seasoning will go bad in the cup & bowl versions because the seal cannot be maintained due to pressure/moisture variations affecting the seal's adhesion to the cup/bowl.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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The other problem with anything stored in styrofoam is that you wind up with a "gas" that gets absorbed by the food. VERY BIG YUCK!! It is the worst food fiasco that I've ever had happen. I simply stopped storing the "cup o soups". I'm very careful when I store ramen these days as well. They are rotated out no later than one year from date of purchase so I don't plan on having ramen any longer than that in my preps. Definitely a short term item. Learn this the hard and expensive way about 10 years ago.
 
Night Owl

Night Owl

Veteran Member
Yep it may go bad, but if something is boiled to death for long enough it will kill the bacteric and won't get you sick,it will just not taste great, but it could satisfy your hunger pains for alittle while. Remember the rest of the world eats all kinds of strange and left out room temperature food.......PS: IMPORTANT TO KNOW***** If you Start to get an upset stomach from EATTING or drinking bad water, TAKE 1 TABLESPOON POWDER CINNAMON EVERY 15 MINUTES!!!! It needs to be taken without liquid! it helps to put it under your tongue so not to inhale the fine powdered cinnamon powder and aspirate. It works amazingly well, in a couple of 15 minute treatments later, you will feel your stomach settle down to normal. i travel with it and it has saved me several times......stops the diarrhea also but will take longer to work if you don't catch the first symptoms of upset stomach.
***** ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Toxins can make you sick, but that only happens in preserved or canned goods vegetables, meats, things with fats in them. Ramen wouldn't have fats in them. bacteria and Virus can be killed with boiling water and if you really had to eat preserved foods you can take the chance to re cook in a pressured cooker for 30 mins. You should always throw out if cans bulge or if it has unusual smells.
****Looked it up on internet to make sure and it says you can boil foods for 10 mins before eating to prevent botulism. I may not be an expert but I have medical background and currently live in several different world locations where food could be questionable.
**** also IF YOU COVER BUTTER WITH WATER AND CHANGE WATER EVERYDAY THERE IS NO NEED FOR REFRIGERATION.....I put a dish on top over the bowl with butter in water. FYI
 
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M

MoonMan

Contributing Member
Night Owl said:
Yep it may go bad, but if something is boiled to death for long enough it will kill the bacteric and won't get you sick
Click to expand...

This is not true. Certain bacteria, including those that cause botulism, create toxins that remain even if the bacteria are killed through cooking. These toxins can make you very sick or kill you. Think about how bad this would be if medical aid were not immediately available.

When in doubt, throw it out!
 
BertaBurtonLake

BertaBurtonLake

Inactive
I don't really understand storing Ramen of any kind for long term. They are 'empty' calories with massive levels of sodium. Much better, I think, to store rice noodles, cous cous, or pasta, dehydrated vegetables and low sodium bouillion powder.

But to each, his own.
 
Dex

Dex

Constitutional Patriot
Most bullions have MSG too. I don't like those noodles because of the salt and MSG, eat them once in a while but no as a habit
 
dstraito

dstraito

TB Fanatic
canis-major said:
Ramen has fat in it that will go rancid. It's only good for short term storage/use.
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I know that rancid smell. It happened to me just the other day with a package of saltines.

What is weird is that I have a shampoo I've used many times over the years and this is the first time I've ever gotten that rancid smell in something that wasn't edible.
 
Wolfman

Wolfman

Senior Member
I thought Ramen had a half life of 10,000 years.

Don't touch the stuff myself - I get really bad migraines when I eat this stuff.
 
Flippper

Flippper

Time Traveler
I wouldn't prep with low sodium items, when the adrenals are weak due to stress (and what could be more stressful than TSHingTF?) salt is what is used by the body to reinforce the adrenals. Also, salt will be difficult to get in certain areas, so having normal or now "high" sodium items will be a welcome thing. You do not want weak adrenals in the best of times, in bad times it could kill you.

Your shampoo likely had fragrance oils that went rancid-I have that happen to Dove body scrub or whatever it's called-goes rancid very quickly due to high oil content, and they are apparently using oils that are very near their expiration date. I have soaps and lotions I made 15 years ago that have yet to go 'off' because I used high end oils and as fresh as I could find. You might want to switch shampoo brands, apparently the one you are using is cutting back on quality to maintain a bottom line in sales. Just a hunch.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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BertaBurtonLake

BertaBurtonLake

Inactive
Flippper said:
I wouldn't prep with low sodium items, when the adrenals are weak due to stress (and what could be more stressful than TSHingTF?) salt is what is used by the body to reinforce the adrenals. Also, salt will be difficult to get in certain areas, so having normal or now "high" sodium items will be a welcome thing. You do not want weak adrenals in the best of times, in bad times it could kill you.
Click to expand...

OMG. So you store salt in your preps. I would rather store low sodium bouillion powder for use INSTEAD of Ramen if I were an 'instant food' kinda girl. But I am not.

If, at this stage of the game, preppers need to be educated to this nth degree, they might as well join the "feed me, seymour" group.
 
straightstreet

straightstreet

Life is better in flip flops
a couple weeks I tried both the beef and the chicken flavored maruchan from our preps that we bought at sams club in January 2011 and they were stale. I couldn't finish either flavor. I don't know the expiration date, but it's definitely not a prep item and a waste of $$
 
T

Terrwyn

Veteran Member
If you want food for long term storage or camping buy Mountain House or Alpine Aire.
I no longer buy anything that isn't going to outlast me for food storage. It is a waste of money. There is also a European freeze dried meal that is very high in calories that climbers who burn up a lot of calories use. Can't remember the name but if you google the above it comes up. Great for survivalists.
 
Night Owl

Night Owl

Veteran Member
MoonMan said:
This is not true. Certain bacteria, including those that cause botulism, create toxins that remain even if the bacteria are killed through cooking. These toxins can make you very sick or kill you. Think about how bad this would be if medical aid were not immediately available.

When in doubt, throw it out!
Click to expand...

I added information....Bateria and Virus are killed with simple boiling 10 mins....I have had Botulism, from corn beef hash, wish I would have pressured cooked it 30 minutes or thrown it out, but it didn't smell....would not wish botulism on my worst enemy...but I think sometimes we are just wasteful as a society in U.S., but it's better safe than sorry, depends how desperate you are to eat. Thanks for bringing up toxins.;)
 
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