A Planet Money story on the dangerous design of noodle cups.
I would say that we see at least two to three patients a week who’ve been injured by these products.
These soups are dangerous because of the way the cups are designed. The cups are tall, lightweight, and have an unstable base …
… the most common cases are small children, often toddlers …
The sticky noodles cling to the skin, which leads to deeper, more severe burns,
… hospital stays for upper body noodle-soup burns are more than twice as long as scalds from hot liquids alone …
… about one in five children he sees with the burns end up needing surgery, and these patients can face permanent scarring and limited mobility in their joints.
I reached out to Nissin and manufacturers of some of the other “tippiest” cups … Every company declined to comment or failed to get back to me.
I’ve spilled these things on myself twice in the past twenty or so years. Didn’t think a thing about the design of the cup itself, until now.