AUTOMATIC INSTANT NOODLES PLANT

Instant noodles with flavoring powder in a separate packet were launched in response to people’s strong demand for better quality and taste, and the product line was highly acclaimed. The forerunner of Japan Convenience Foods Industry Association was founded in 1964 when the entrants rapidly increased and competition among them became excessively fierce in this growing market. The association strove to maintain the product quality by applying Japan Agricultural Standard (JAS) and started to display the date of manufacture to be more consumer-friendly. Since then, increasingly many different flavors of instant noodles had been put into the market, and their product quality, as represented by non-fried noodles, had been improved.

Spreading first to Asia and then to Americas and Europe, instant noodles have become accepted globally. Especially with the rise of income level in developing countries in the 1990s, the consumption increased rapidly there. Annual global demand for instant noodles was estimated approximately 15 billion servings in 1990, and the demand grew to 50 billion servings in 2001 and exceeded 100 billion servings mark in 2012. The rapid growth was attributed to the universality of the five principles Momofuku Ando had set forth in developing the food, namely affordability, convenience, safety and hygiene, long shelf life, and palatability. Besides, it was pointed that the versatility of instant noodles enabled themselves to fuse with ingredients in local cooking and traditional flavors. Moreover, going ahead of rising health-consciousness, many manufacturers launched instant noodles with various healthy recipes: noodles with dietary fiber and collagen, low-calorie noodles, and low-sodium noodles, etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF NOODLES

There is no systematic classification or nomenclature for Asian noodles; wide differences exist between countries. There is a need to standardize noodle nomenclature using a universal classification system. Classification below is based on the current state of the knowledge.

Based on Raw Material:

Noodles can be made from wheat flour alone or in combination with buckwheat flour. Wheat flour noodles include Chinese and Japanese type noodles. There are many varieties in each noodle type, representing different formulation, processing and noodle quality characteristics. Noodles containing buckwheat are also called soba, meaning buckwheat noodle. These noodles are typically light brown or gray in color with a unique taste and flavor

Based on Salt Used:

Based on the absence or presence of alkaline salt in the formula, noodles can be classified as white (containing salt) noodles or yellow (containing alkaline salt) noodles.

Based on Size:

According to the width of the noodle strands, Japanese noodles are classified into four types. Since the smaller size noodles usually soften faster in hot water than the larger size, so-men and hiya-mughi noodles are usually served cool in the summer, and udon and hira-men are often eaten hot in the cool seasons.

Based on Processing:

The simplest way to classify noodles based on processing is handmade versus machine-made noodles. Noodle processing operations include mixing raw materials, dough sheeting, compounding, sheeting /rolling and slitting. This series of processes remains constant among countries for all noodle types. Noodle strands are further processed to produce different kinds of noodles, and this can be a means of classification

Fresh- Noodle strands coming out of slitting rolls are cut into certain lengths for packaging without any further processing

Dried- Fresh noodle stands are dried by sunlight or in a controlled chamber. Noodle shelf life is dramatically extended, but fragile noodles may have handling problems.

Boiled- Fresh noodle strands are either parboiled (90% complete cooking) or fully cooked. Boiled noodles are re-cooked for another 1-2 minutes before serving.

Steamed- Fresh alkaline noodle strands are steamed in a steamer and softened with water through rinsing or steeping.