The Evil in Your Instant Noodles — The Industry Is Destroying Rainforests and Using Child Labor

For decades, instant ramen noodles have been a culinary staple for cash-poor college students, young working professionals and even prisoners. Yet ramen noodles are a main culprit of deforestation due to the high amount of unsustainable palm oil used to make them. While several large food corporations have committed to eliminating conflict palm oil from their supply chains, two of the world's biggest instant noodle producers, Nissin Foods Holdings and Toyo Suisan Kaisha (Maruchan), both Japanese firms, have failed to adopt responsible palm oil policies, according to SumOfUs, a non-profit consumer advocacy group.
"Instant noodles are cheap, convenient, and popular, but today they're mostly a threat to our planet," said Kaytee Riek, campaigns director at SumOfUs, in an email. Both Nissin and Maruchan have failed to "cut ties with bad actors that clear rainforests, peatlands and abuse the rights of communities and workers in the palm oil sector," she said.
"As global demand for palm oil has skyrocketed, so has the need for large numbers of laborers on plantations," according to Humanity United, a non-profit social welfare group, "This has resulted in widespread exploitation of workers and a reliance on forced and child labor."
READ MORE:http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-instant-ramen-noodles-are-destroying-rainforests-killing-orangutans-and-promoting?sc=fb