Buldak and the Danish Recall That Boosted Sales
Samyang Buldak scaled from a 2012 product bet to a billion packs a year. In June 2024 Denmark recalled three variants over capsaicin; a month later it reversed most of the ban — and demand rose.
TL;DR — Samyang's Buldak ("fire chicken") launched in 2012 after an executive watched diners struggle with a spicy chicken dish and instructed R&D to "make it spicier." A 2014 YouTube challenge globalized it. In June 2024, Denmark recalled three Buldak products for high capsaicin, then reversed most of the ban a month later. Sales increased.
There is a recognizable internet-video format: someone bites bright-red noodles, pauses, and visibly capitulates. The noodles are almost always Buldak — Samyang's fire-chicken ramen, the best-selling spicy noodle in the world, and, briefly, a product a European government classified as a public-health risk.
Product origin
The origin is deliberately low-tech. Around 2010, Samyang executive Kim Jung-soo watched restaurant diners eating a fiery braised-chicken dish — "sweating and fanning their tongues, assailed by both pleasure and pain," as the company later described it — and concluded Koreans wanted a controlled dose of that suffering. He directed R&D to capture it, then to push the heat further. Buldak (불닭볶음면) launched in April 2012: a stir-fried noodle, not a soup — drained, then coated in a thick, sweet, punishing chili sauce.
The distribution event
For two years it was a domestic product. In 2014, the YouTube channel Korean Englishman posted clips of British participants attempting to finish a bowl without water. The "Fire Noodle Challenge" became a defining early-internet food-dare format and carried Buldak out of Korea into 100 countries.
The volume since is the headline metric: from 1 billion packs sold by 2017 to 6.6 billion by September 2024 — roughly a billion a year. Spin-offs proliferated: Cheese, 2x Spicy ("Nuclear"), and the standout Carbonara Buldak (2017), a short-video staple and, by most accounts, the top-selling Buldak flavor on Amazon US.
Heat, disputed
The Scoville figure is genuinely contested, so both numbers are stated here:
| Product | Scoville (SHU) |
|---|---|
| Original Buldak | 4,404 (long-cited) or 8,706 (cited in 2024) |
| 2x Spicy ("Nuclear") | ~10,000 |
| 3x Spicy | 13,000 |
For reference, a jalapeño runs roughly 2,500–8,000 SHU. The original's two published figures — 4,404 from a widely-cited 2017 measurement and 8,706 from 2024 coverage — likely reflect recipe revisions and different labs. There is no single authoritative Scoville value for Buldak.
The Denmark recall
On June 11, 2024, Denmark's food authority (Fødevarestyrelsen) recalled three Buldak products: 3x Spicy, 2x Spicy, and Hot Chicken Stew. The National Food Institute's stated reason was direct:
"The total levels of capsaicin in a single pack of all three noodle products are so high that they pose a risk of acute poisoning."
The specific concern was children attempting short-video spice dares. Samyang's position was that the issue was heat, not safety, and it noted this was the first recall of its kind in company history.
On July 15, 2024, Denmark reversed most of the recall. Re-testing found the 2x Spicy and Hot Chicken Stew did not contain the capsaicin levels first reported, and both returned to shelves; only the 3x Spicy stayed banned. Fortune observed that Denmark un-banned the noodles "but it still doesn't allow Marmite."
The outcome was free marketing. A government warning that a noodle may be too dangerous is an efficient demand driver, particularly among teenagers.
The underlying product logic
Past the memes, Buldak is a well-engineered product. The sauce is sweet as much as hot, which sustains repeat bites through the burn. It is stir-fried, so the flavor coats rather than dissolving. And it films well — that red is effectively optimized for a screen. Spice, sugar, and shareability in a single ~$1 pack.
FAQ
Why was Buldak recalled in Denmark?
In June 2024, Denmark recalled three Buldak products over capsaicin levels it said posed a risk of "acute poisoning," especially for children. Most of the recall was reversed in July 2024 after re-testing; only the 3x Spicy stayed banned.
How spicy is Buldak in Scoville units?
The original is cited at either 4,404 or 8,706 SHU depending on source and year; 2x Spicy is ~10,000 and 3x Spicy is ~13,000. A jalapeño is about 2,500–8,000 SHU.
What is the best-selling Buldak flavor?
Carbonara Buldak (launched 2017) is widely reported as the top spin-off and a leading seller on Amazon US, though Samyang does not publish per-flavor figures.
Sources: Korea Herald, NBC News, Korea Times, KED Global, The Ramen Rater.
Image: Jem2013, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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