So this is interesting - unable to compete on price, because a low price products are not trusted to be safe, they compete on free products (as a proxy for a discount).

Doesn't this make any agreement to stop offering giveaways akin to price fixing?

" Whilst Uni-President is pulling back for now, analyst Nice Wang at Yuanta Securities in Shanghai said the price battle may not be over"

heh

On a more serious note, i think it is much better for the consumers if the major players in the fast food game are keeping product quality at a relatively constant level whilst giving away free things (Opposed to the american method of making food quicker and cheaper)

I don't think prepackaged noodles with soup flavoring can get much quicker or cheaper...and 'quality' is not something I'd associate with them. Have a look at the nutritional information on a pack - it's horrifying even before you realize that the package contains two servings.

Wow, I've eaten a lot of maruchen in my life, and i feel like a pretty healthy guy, but man that reads like poison. I wonder if there is a difference in quality/nutrition between american/western instant noodles and Chinese.

They are virtually identical, bar the packaging. Any fried noodle is going to be nutritionally atrocious.

EDIT: for the curious, a package of instant ramen has 14g of fat (7 saturated) and 1660mg of sodium. Somewhat surprisingly, it has ~8g of protein. For comparison, that's half the fat of a big mac, but twice the sodium.

> American/Western instant noodles

If you're referring to Maruchan, it's actually a subsidiary of a Japanese company. Instant noodles were invented in post-WW2 Japan by a Taiwanese immigrant.

You'll probably be downvoted since this isn't typically considered HN-worthy content, but I have to admit I chuckled too.

Is there really a way to reduce the quality of instant ramen noodles?

Cut the seasoning powder with melamine.

This title deserves an award.

It's certainly one of the weirder titles I've read on HN (and off HN too for that matter)

Seriously, it's a work of art in itself. Reuters tends to be a bit more formulaic and boring with titles, but I can't imagine a better one for this piece.