Noodles stay hotter longer

During a 10-year period, a high incidence of burns from prepared noodle soup was noticed at the Baltimore Regional Burn Center. Because of the perceived severity of these burns, we took a more systematic look at the burns resulting from this type of soup to determine its effect on patient hospitalization and also examined the properties of the soup itself. All medical records of pediatric patients admitted to the Center between 1989 and 1999 with scald burns from various types of soup were retrospectively reviewed and divided into the Noodle Soup group, and the Other Soup group. The scald burns were compared as well as the physical properties of prepared noodle soup and tap water. Of 27 pediatric admissions for soup burns, 10 were from noodle soup and 17 from other types. Difference in average age and average total percentage of body surface area affected was not significant for the burns from either type of soup. However, the average length of stay for patients with noodle soup burns was significantly longer than for those with other types of soup burns (P < .010). Also, the cooling curve for noodle soup is much slower than for normal tap water. Noodle soup causes a significantly longer hospital stay than other types of soup. Because the boiling temperature of water and noodle soup is about the same, but the cooling curve of noodle soup is much slower, noodle soup may present a greater danger to children than other types of soup.