Washington, DC: Due to the design of instant cups of soup, specifically those with Styrofoam cups full of noodles, people are suffering burn injuries that, in some cases, require hospitalization and surgery.
In a recent interview with NPR.org Dr. Warren Garner, director of the burn unit at University of Southern California's County Hospital in Los Angeles said "I would say that we see at least two to three patients a week who've been injured by these products," he said.
Because the cups are lightweight, tall, with an unstable base, they can tip over easily, spilling boiling water on whoever is nearby. Garner said that in their unit they commonly see small children and toddlers coming in with burns from cups of noodles that have tipped over, spilling boiling liquid and noodles down their chest, arms, torso, in some cases their genitals and occasionally their legs.
Compounding the problem is the fact the noodles in the cups of soup take longer to cool than normal tap water and stick to the skin – making the burn injury worse.
A study done in 2007 that looked at incidence of burns from prepared cup of noodle soups over a 10 year period, found that of 27 pediatric admissions for soup burns, 10 were from noodle soup and 17 from other type. The study, done at the Baltimore Regional Burn Center, looked at all medical records of pediatric patients admitted to the Center between 1989 and 1999 with scald burns from various types of soup.
The study also showed that hospital stays for upper body noodle-soup burns are more than twice as long as scalds from hot liquids alone. Dr.Garner told NPR.org that of the children that come to the Center with burns, about one in five need surgery, and the injuries can cause permanent scarring of the face, and limited mobility in patients' joints.
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Last updated on Dec-23-11 |
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