Nissin Foods to reduce sodium, remove MSG and artificial flavors from instant ramen noodles.

GARDENA, CALIF. — Nissin Foods is taking steps to improve the nutritional makeup of its instant ramen noodles. The company on Sept. 15 said it will reduce sodium, remove added MSG and eliminate artificial flavors from its Cup Noodles brand in the United States.

Al Multari, president of Nissin Foods USA

“Listening to our consumers has always been at the core of what our company, and the Cup Noodles product in particular, was founded on,” said Al Multari, president of Nissin Foods USA. “Most recently, we asked our consumers what changes they’d like to see in our Cup Noodles product. They told us that without sacrificing taste, the three most compelling changes we could make to our recipe were: lower sodium, no added MSG and no artificial flavors. This is exactly what we’ve been able to accomplish. Our consumers rely on Cup Noodles as a convenient, affordable and quality meal to help keep them going — and now, they can feel even better about eating it.”

Instant ramen was invented in Japan in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, and the latest change in nutritional makeup came after Nissin challenged its research and development team to find a way to meet consumers’ evolving needs.

The nutritional changes include:

• A reduction of more than 20% in the sodium content of the three best-selling Cup Noodles flavors and a reduction of approximately 15% in sodium content of all flavors;

• The removal of added MSG (small amounts of naturally occurring glutamates in ingredients such as soy sauce, tomato and red chili pepper remain);

• The removal of all artificial flavors and addition of natural ingredients (such as turmeric, paprika and lime).

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Along with the recipe changes, Nissin said it will launch its first-ever U.S. national advertising campaign for Instant Cup in November.