Rumor: Instant noodles contain poisons hard to decompose

The oil used to fry instant noodles contains BHT. The instant noodles in bowls are more dangerous because the bowls made of polystyrene have been added BHT. Under high temperatures the substances will dissolve in water. It takes the liver 32 days to decompose the poisons in one bowl of instant noodles!

The truth:

BHT mentioned several times above is an antioxidant widely used in food oil.

The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the FAO and the World Health Organization set the daily intake of BHT at 0.3 milligram per kilogram of body weight. For adults, it is roughly equivalent to 20 milligrams per day.

According to the national standards for food additive, the amount of BHT used in foods is 0.2 grams per kilogram of oil. If one packet of instant noodles weighs 100 grams which usually contain 20% of oil, BHT will not pose a health hazard even if a person eat five packets of instant noodles every day for a long time.

As to the rumor that instant noodles bowls with polystyrene will release styrene, which can cause cancer when heated, experts said that styrene is only likely to cause cancer in case of "high-dose", which refers to tens of milligrams per kilogram of body weight. U.S. FDA holds that the release of styrene from polystyrene packaging material is not possible to achieve this harmful dose, thus allowing the use of it in foods. Europe and Japan allow the use of it too.

In fact, instant noodles are not healthy as it is high in calorie. It also contains more salt which leads to excessive sodium, but it is unfair to call it "poisonous food".