How did the concept and technology of Instant Noodle and related product affect the Local & Global Food Industry?

It wasn't long before instant noodle skipped over national boundaries and became an international phenomenon. Along with instant noodle, more and more different types of instant food products were invented to suit the growing demand on the global market. Instant noodles have become part and parcel of the instant food industry and culture. The concentrated powder form products such as instant coffee mixture, cereal, soup, juice and dehydrated food products such as fruit, vegetable, meat were claimed to retain the most original flavor and nutrition value when they are 're-hydrate' by adding water. As over 90% of the moisture was extracted during the process, these products can be preserved for a long time and no need to place in a refrigerator.

Another type of instant food emerged is the microwave products (re-heated frozen food) such as dim sum, cake and congee which can re-gain the food original color, form and texture after defrosted in the microwave. In the science fiction movie 'Back to the future', there is a shot showing a biscuit like pizza when put in the microwave for a few minute, it dramatically becomes a true size pizza. This reveals the expectation of people on the convenience of preserved food in future.

The seasoning packet can be regarded as the soul of an instant noodle, other than salt and sugar; it contains various flavor enhancers including MSG and spices. This also encouraged the development of technologies on capturing and imitating different flavor and smells for other food products such as sweets, vegetarian food, artificial crabmeat, abalone and shark fin soup etc. where unique flavor is their major selling point. The Japanese had become masters of imitation foods, a good example are the fish meat products made to taste like scallop, abalone or crabmeat.