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Letter Re: Ramen Noodles as a Food Storage Supplement

Mr. Rawles,
First off, thanks for your fine web site! I was proud to become a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber.

For those looking to increase their food storage supply in a cost-effective manner, I would recommend stopping by Wal-Mart and picking up their 12-pack containers of Ramen noodles (in various flavors). They're currently $1.73 per package, which comes out to just 14.5 cents per single pack.

Nutritionally, a single pack of Ramen noodles contains:
380 calories
14 grams of fat
52 grams of carbohydrates
2 grams of fiber
10 grams of protein
and 16% of your daily requirement of iron

We ate a lot of Ramen noodles in the field while I was on active duty, you could boil up a single pack in a canteen cup and add a can of mushroom soup to it for a hot meal that was a break from C Rations. It would actually feed two guys most of the time.

Ten cases would cost you $17.30 to add 120 servings of a filling and easy to prepare base to stretch out your food storage dollars. This is worth the money, in my opinion! Yours, - Will from Florida

JWR Replies: The nutritive value of ramen is marginal, so it should not be considered a primary storage food. But I can see the wisdom of having some on hand as a food storage supplement, especially in lean times when hunger pangs will be a distinct possibility. There are lots of interesting ramen recipe web sites on the Internet, like this one with 430 recipes. Coincidentally, instant ramen is nearing its 50th anniversary.

In my experience, ramen, like other bulk pasta, is particularly vulnerable to vermin. I strongly recommend storing it in 6 gallon food grade buckets with gasketed lids. If you are short on buckets, One alternative--albeit providing a shorter shelf life--is finding metal cabinets (such as military wall lockers) with tight-fitting doors. These will at least keep your pasta safe from mice and rats. (But not necessarily safe from insects.)

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