“Can we not perhaps develop an entirely new noodle product without being constrained by the idea of ‘instant noodles’?” It was this idea that led us to focus on harusame, a new value foodstuff which does not exist amongst conventional wheat noodles, and which led to the birth of our harusame products.
Acecook harusame products combine ‘mung bean starch’ which produces a firm crunchy texture and ‘potato starch’ which produces a smooth texture and althougt it goes without saying that harusame products are delicious, their greatest virtue lies in their being as filling as instant noodles. Harusame noodles do not contain any fat or oil, thus enabling us to produce a low calorie product.
In Japan specific health examinations and specific health guidance was introduced in April 2008 following amendments to the Medical Treatment Law, which aims to curb metabolic syndrome, and it is now mandatory to provide health guidance based on the results of health examinations. As a result, the demand for products as a counteract to metabolism has risen, yet such products tend to be high in price and difficult to continue taking on a daily basis, and essentially the focus has fallen on bland diets and supplements.
Verifications of metabolic syndrome remedial effects were conducted at the Kyoto Industrial Health Association (Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto) and Harusame Noodles were adopted as a suitable foodstuff for such program. During the research, Harusame Noodles were proven to have a certain degree of effectiveness and given the that the noodles provide both a delicious taste and are low in calories, Harusame Noodles were highly acclaimed as a product which can be easily continued at the price of conventional instant noodles.
Acecook’s harusame has focused on the fact that metabolic syndrome has also become an issue overseas, and we have started proactive expansion. In 2008 we exhibited at SIAL 2008 and the results of a food tasting survey indicated that harusame products had been well received with more than 90% of respondents indicating a desire to consume the product again.
Our current product range is evolving around three products. Soup Harusame, which emphasizes soup, Harusame Noodles, which offers a ramen style experience, and Vegesame, which incorporates vegetables into harusame using entirely new technology. These products have started a major movement in Japan too.
We investigated whether or not harusame noodles (vermicelli: approx. 27g) and Acecook's vertical style cup noodles (noodles: approx. 65g) are as equally filling.
After leaving to soak in hot water for 3 minutes the vertical style cup noodles were more bulky and had less remaining liquid. The vermicelli in the harusame noodles had hardly absorbed any of the water and had a large quantity of remaining liquid.
After leaving to soak in hot water for 10 minutes and 20 minutes, the vermicelli was found to have absorbed a great deal of the water. Whilst the vertical style cup noodles also bloated the noodles did not change as much from their state after three minutes as the vermicelli. The reason why the vertical style cup noodles appeared to be greater in quantity is due to the space between noodles being greater than the space between vermicelli.
Both the vermicelli and the vertical style cup noodles were put through a food processor after 30 minutes in order to compare volume after 30 minutes, with the result that the volume of each product was virtually the same.
As a result of this experiment we were able to confirm that the volume of harusame and cup noodles is virtually the same.
Consequently, the feeling of being full (filling) when eating harusame and cup noodles can be expected to be the same.
In terms of calories Acecook’s vertical style cup noodle, with a weight of 65g contain approximately 290 kilocalories althougt harusame noodles, with a weight of 27g contain approximately 114 kilocalories and are thus extremely healthy.
