Doctors issue warning after 10 kids suffer serious burns from instant noodles

A popular snack has landed 10 kids in hospital with serious burns in the space of just one month — prompting a warning from doctors.

Five children have been treated for serious burns in the space of just one week, and all of them share one thing in common — the burns were caused by a common snack.

This month alone, 10 children have been referred to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead after sustaining scald burns from instant noodles.

Ten-year-old Dakota Sydenham was one of those children, suffering serious burns to her legs and torso after spilling her noodles during the school holidays.

Little Dakota needed a quick snack before a beach day, and decided on a pot of instant noodles, which she ate in the car.

Just two minutes into the drive, her mum Monika heard a loud scream and instantly knew what had happened.

Dakota Sydenham was look for a quick snack.

One of the scald burns on Dakota’s leg.

“That scream,” she said.

“She lost her grip and the noodles went all over her lap and torso, so I quickly pulled over, and whipped her swimming costume off.”

Luckily they had a bottle of water in the car, which she tipped all over her daughter’s burnt body. They then rushed home, where Dakota sat in a cold shower for 25 minutes.

“They say that made a huge difference to how bad the burns were,” she said.

“My mum was a nurse and I knew that was the best thing to do.

“I really started to worry when I saw her skin peeling off though.”

Monika took her daughter to hospital, where her care was facilitated through Kidsburns, a 24-hour digital referral service based at CHW which provides consultation, clinical care and management advice for pediatric burn injuries across NSW.

The spike in burns from instant noodles has prompted experts from CHW to issue a warning, urging parents and caregivers to be extra vigilant with children around hot food and drink.

Dr Torey Lawrence, Head of the Burns Unit at CHW, said it could take less than a second for spilt instant noodles to cause a severe burn.

“Boiling water in hot noodle containers can take an hour to cool down to a safe temperature after cooking,” Dr Lawrence said.

“This means accidents like spilling the hot water from instant noodles can cause long-lasting injuries and lifelong scarring for children.”

Dr Lawrence said while food and drink may be a good temperature for adults, the risk of burns for a child was significantly higher.

“Children’s skin is comparatively thinner than adults and even a small amount of hot liquid can cause deeper, more extensive, and more severe burns,” she said.

Although Dakota missed out on a lot of fun due to her burns these school holidays, her mum said she’d learnt a valuable lesson about her favourite snack.

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