Cup noodles have traditionally been a cheap, filling way to suddenly get a huge amount of salt in your system. Right? Do they actually do anything else? As Americans look for snack foods that are at least nominally healthier and that have fewer additives, even the makers of cup noodles are cutting back on sodium and artificial flavors.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a styrofoam container of Nissin’s Cup Noodles only has 45% of the sodium that the average adult needs in an entire day, not 60% of the daily recommended intake like it did a few years ago.

This continues the trend of foods that aren’t anywhere near healthy trying to clean up their ingredient list, if not the nutritional value of the food. No one is pretending that Froot Loops with natural coloring or chicken nuggets made from chickens that haven’t received antibiotics are health foods — at least we hope that no one thinks that — but consumers are demanding fewer additives and colors in their food.

Nissin Foods USA, maker of those cup noodles that you stocked up on in your early twenties, told the Wall Street Journal that it was answering customers’ demands when it removed artificial flavors in favor of additives like paprika and lime. Cutting back (a little bit) on sodium was also a customer demand.

Cup Noodles Dials Down the Salt [Wall Street Journal]

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