How to spot chemical-laced noodles with just a few drops of fish sauce

We are used to identifying whether noodles are clean or contaminated with chemicals by looking at the physical characteristics of the noodles. However, there's a clever trick involving fish sauce that can help you tell if your noodles have chemicals.

Common chemicals often added to noodles include the fluorescent whitening agent tinopal, bleaching agents like funfit, and borax. These chemicals are all banned food additives.

Since noodles are often handmade, it’s difficult to control the ingredients and additives used. Therefore, it can be hard to distinguish chemically contaminated noodles just by sight or taste. However, you can look at the color of the noodles to rule some out.

Distinguishing with Fish Sauce: This simple trick allows you to use fish sauce to tell the difference between clean noodles and those with chemicals. Before eating, try mixing a bit of noodle into a bowl of fish sauce. If the noodles soften and quickly absorb the fish sauce, it means they are clean. On the other hand, noodles with chemicals will be harder and won’t absorb the fish sauce as easily because the chemical coating prevents the sauce from penetrating.

Additionally, to be completely sure if the noodles are contaminated with chemicals, the only way is to have them tested. Noodles with whitening agents or borax usually appear very white and attractive, but consuming them can lead to stomach pain, diarrhea, poisoning, and long-term effects like liver damage, kidney failure, or even cancer.