Health Base Food launches 'completely nutritious' cup ramen

For the past few months, my wife has been completely absorbed in "Base Food". However, she described their ramen (not the cup ramen version) as "bland" and "boring".

A Tokyo-based company known for making so-called "complete nutrition" foods announced plans to add cup ramen to its range starting 22 October. The new product, called "Base Ramen," was developed by Base Food Inc. and is said to contain 33 different nutrients. Each cup is priced at 442 yen, roughly three dollars, and is being sold through the company's online store as well as major e-commerce sites. A company spokesperson explained that the goal was to create something people could eat regularly without getting bored with it, describing it as a convenient, guilt-free option — equally suitable for lunch or a late-night meal.

While Base Food has already released its completely nutritious "yakisoba" (stir-fried noodles), this marks the company's first foray into the ramen-with-soup market. Base Ramen comes in two flavours: chicken stock, soy sauce, and miso. The ramen features thin, non-fried noodles with added green onions and corn for toppings. The chicken soy sauce flavour uses a broth made from premium soy sauce and Rishiri kelp from Hokkaido, while the miso flavour blends two types of Shinshu miso from Nagano Prefecture. The chicken stock soy sauce ramen contains 299 kilocalories, and the miso version has 330 kilocalories. Both have a lower salt content compared to other cup noodles, with a total of 4.4 grams of salt in the noodles, toppings and soup. The representative explained, "By using whole grain flour in the noodles to enhance flavour, we've been able to reduce salt. Compared to typical instant cup noodles, the salt in the chicken stock soy sauce ramen is reduced by about 30% and in the miso version by about 35%."

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Base Food develops its products based on the Consumer Affairs Agency's nutrient labelling standards, which outline a desirable daily nutrient intake for Japanese people aged 18 and above. The company defines a nutritious meal as one containing at least one-third of the daily required amount of 29 out of 33 essential nutrients, excluding those prone to excessive intake, such as fats and carbohydrates. In the case of the newly released cup ramen, consuming two servings provides one-third of the required daily nutrients.

I get what they're going for: something quick but not junky, and Base Food's whole "balanced nutrition" thing definitely fits modern Tokyo life. Still, I can't help but wonder if it actually tastes good. Their regular products are known for being... well, healthy but kind of dull. If they can make this cup ramen both tasty and healthy, that's a win. But if it's bland like their other stuff, then even all 33 nutrients won't save it from being a one-time novelty.

What is it that makes ramen a junk food? High sodium? High saturated fat? If they reduced the former by substituting with potassium chloride and substituted saturated fats with say rapeseed ('canola') oil and stopped adding uranium/plutonium, then it'd be far healthier!

Sounds like sodium is the main culprit. But they could deliver those flavor enhancing electric chopsticks with each purchase.

What is the packaging for this new cup ramen? Even if we give the company the benefit of a doubt, if it's packaged in plastic (including plastic-lined paper) or foam, pouring hot water into it can release microplastics into the broth. This is one of the main reasons I would avoid it, as I do all cup ramen.

Yes, microplastics are all around us, and they have even been found in samples of human brains, but my policy is to reduce known sources under my own control when possible.

Mikawa Ossan said:

What is the packaging for this new cup ramen? Even if we give the company the benefit of a doubt, if it's packaged in plastic (including plastic-lined paper) or foam, pouring hot water into it can release microplastics into the broth. This is one of the main reasons I would avoid it, as I do all cup ramen.

Yes, microplastics are all around us, and they have even been found in samples of human brains, but my policy is to reduce known sources under my own control when possible.

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That is true but we don't know if those, essentially inert plastics are doing us any harm. The worst culprit for releasing microplastics is slightly damaged Teflon pan coatings! The biggest ocean single polluting plastic comes from those little packets of instant coffee/dried milk/sugar that are popular in Asia; everybody seems to use them

Ukigumo said:

we don't know if those, essentially inert plastics are doing us any harm.

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I think it's safe to say that they are not doing us any good. And by the time you find out it's doing harm it will be too late for this generation. Just like any number of pollutants of the past -- asbestos, DDT, lead, mercury, talc, etc.

mdchachi said:

I think it's safe to say that they are not doing us any good. And by the time you find out it's doing harm it will be too late for this generation. Just like any number of pollutants of the past -- asbestos, DDT, lead, mercury, talc, etc.

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We need to find definitive proof otherwise research scientists will be out of work!