I'd think twice about eating those ramen noodles if I were you...

Do you really think I'm crazy enough to tell the world my real name? · 2015-01-02T18:54:55

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2014/12/30/chinese-food-distributor-health-violations/?cps=gravity_1807_-6868345858401633873 FDA: Chinese Food Distributor's Warehouse Is Rodent-Infested Hellscape New York-based supplier cited for birds, rat excrement Mack Gelber Dec 30th 2014 9:48AM Ordering Chinese food on Christmas is nearly as hallowed a tradition as watching It's a Wonderful Life and bickering with your extended family. But if a recent FDA citation of one New York-based food supplier is any indication, you're going to want to stay away from your local takeout joint well into the new year. What are we talking about, exactly? Let's just say that the list of health code violations perpetrated by Brooklyn's New Yung Wah Trading Co. is long enough that, at first glance, it resembles some kind of free-verse poem. A poem studded with frequent, colorful references to rat poop. Here's a sample from the report: Among the findings in the inspection of the company's McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, warehouse: A rodent's nest with multiple rodents in a plastic-lined box in a cooler that had thawing rib meat on top of melons. Four dead rodents. Birds flying throughout the warehouse. A pallet of pineapples in boxes gnawed on by rodents, an apparent nest they made and rodent feces. Rodent feces in a cooler. A path of rodent feces leading to a hole in a bag of flour. Rodent feces, urine and nests in and around bags of monosodium glutamate. Workers smoking while handling food being prepared for distribution. The full report also mentions drainage issues in the warehouse, with areas of standing water (yum!), as well as "marshy soil and large rocks." The whole thing goes on for a good 2,000 words, and the full effect is something like staring at one of those panoramic Hieronymus Bosch paintings of hell. So what's the worst part? Because New Yung Wah's website consists solely of an "under construction" message, any Chinese restaurant within their distribution area (they serve the East Coast and Midwest with centers in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) is potentially under suspicion when it comes to selling rodent-infested, excrement-laden, standing-water-and-marshy-soil-soaked meat. That's an unfair situation for restaurant owners to be in, especially those who source their food from another supplier. Still, do you really want to play Russian roulette with products that may have served as actual rat nests? Did you know rats even had nests before reading this? Happy nightmares. Still like eating ramen noodles while you code instead of a good home cooked meal? I'll never forget the time when my brother told me about the time someone found a dead rat in a cup of ramen noodles, and that was back in '93. 20+ years lager, I guess not much has changed. I enjoy cooking, and I think I do a good job of it. Although sometimes we don't have time to do it (or just can't), I think cooking ahead of time sounds like a better idea even more so. Shogun.

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Started by blueshogun96 January 02, 2015 02:09 AM

11 comments, last by RLS0812 10 years, 1 month ago

samoth

9,833

January 02, 2015 04:28 PM

Hot water kills everything thought right?

Depends, Most people do not use boiling water, but just hot water (hot as in 50-60°C), and indeed some cooks say that you should never boil ramen. Typically, industrially prepared ramen is "cooked" with very much not boiling "hot" water (around 70-80°C top) for 3-4 minutes before being swallowed.

Hanta virus takes one hour at 60°C, about half that in 80°C, and rodent excrements are full of it. Lassa probably doesn't occur in your rodents (being more a west-Africa thing) but is similar.

Then there's Salmonella spp. which only need a modest 10 mins at 75°C. Streptobacillus moniliformis on the other hand takes 15 minutes at 121°C (moist) or 1 hour at 170°C (dry). At typical "soup temperatures", it'll survive for hours.

alnite

3,454

January 02, 2015 05:45 PM

I'll be pedantic.

First, ramen is Japanese, not Chinese. The health code violation is of a Chinese company.

Second, packaged ramen is typically made and manufactured in Japan/China/Korea/etc., the country of origin, and distributed here. The said violation seems to happen at the distribution center, rather than at the production company.

Third, what you should be careful of is eating food (Any kind, not just Chinese) from restaurants, or supermarket, who have gotten their supplies from this distributor. It is also possible that a mom-and-pop sandwich shop got their supplies of veggies from here. Just because it's a Chinese distributor, doesn't mean that it only serves Chinese restaurants.

Starnick

1,892

January 02, 2015 05:55 PM

Hot water kills everything thought right?
Depends, Most people do not use boiling water, but just hot water (hot as in 50-60°C), and indeed some cooks say that you should never boil ramen. Typically, industrially prepared ramen is "cooked" with very much not boiling "hot" water (around 70-80°C top) for 3-4 minutes before being swallowed.

Hanta virus takes one hour at 60°C, about half that in 80°C, and rodent excrements are full of it. Lassa probably doesn't occur in your rodents (being more a west-Africa thing) but is similar.

Then there's Salmonella spp. which only need a modest 10 mins at 75°C. Streptobacillus moniliformis on the other hand takes 15 minutes at 121°C (moist) or 1 hour at 170°C (dry). At typical "soup temperatures", it'll survive for hours.

I don't know why, but as I read that I was picturing the end of Terminator 2, with the liquid metal terminator writhing about in the molten metal as it was being destroyed.

Starnick

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