After a series of events including forums and interviews with Koki Ando, Chairman of WINA as well as president and CEO of Nissin Foods Holdings Co. Ltd., and Wei Ing-Chou, Director General of WINA as well as Chairman and CEO of Tianyi (CI) Holding Corp., the instant noodles summit came to a close on May 20.

Koki Ando and Wei Ing-Chou had interviews with Chinese as well as foreign press, who asked the top noodle men to state their opinions on hot topics such as food safety, innovation, nutrition and the quality assurance for instant noodles.

"The summit's theme, ‘Instant Noodles for a Better Life', was actually a suggestion from Director General Wei," Ando said, "We covered a great deal of topics during the summit, all related to this all-encompassing idea ."

A string of scandals involving plasticizer and chemically treated noodles has led to a currently demonized image of instant noodles in China. koki Ando said that over an extensive 54 years of instant noodle history in Japan, similar situations have occurred frequently. In this day and age however, the Japanese consider instant noodles to be a healthy and comfortable food product since any problems that occurred in the past have long been solved.

"Instant noodles have only been around in China for roughly 20 years, which is in fact not very long. During those 20 years, instant noodle producers have encountered their share of trials and tribulations. I think Chinese instant noodle producers have encountered most of the problems that are bound to occur in the industry," Koki Ando said, "As for the way to solve this demonization, I think that we need more and more efficient communication with the media, school teachers and nutritionists. Only then can we let more people know that instant noodles are cheap, healthy, tasty, convenient as well as easy to preserve. They're the best thing in the world."

"The instant noodle competition is fierce and at times even vicious. A lot of media have visited the Master Kong factory. People who don't see the factory will go with the demonization. However, people who do visit the factory and witness the production process first hand, feel regret as to why they didn't eat instant noodles before," Wei said.

According to data, 98.2 billion packs of instant noodles were sold worldwide in 2010, of which China accounted for 43 percent. China's instant noodle consumption has risen to almost half of the world's total, which is in an unbelievable development rate to have over the short span of 20 years. "I think the instant noodle safety issues are now done and dealt with and are not likely to reoccur," Koki Ando said, "As Director General Wei already stated, we should now start focusing on qualitative competition rather than merely paying attention to price and cost."

The further development of instant noodles should see improvements in their ingredients and nutritional values. That is of course without losing track of their biggest selling point: convenience.

"As Director General of WINA, I will try my best to realize the promises of the Tianjin Declaration over the next two years," Wei said, "I also intend to reinforce four aspects: culture, responsibility, innovation and benefit." He said that the cultural aspect means to respect local culture. Only then will you get any consumer acknowledgment. Responsibility stands for safety. As the food industry is an ethical industry, this aspect is fundamental. As for the benefit factor, Wei will urge all WINA member enterprises to realize rapid growth and distribute their products to every corner of the world over the next two years.

The 8th World Instant Noodles Summit was held in Tianjin from May 19 to May 21, 2012. The biennial summit has attracted nearly 700 participants, including business leaders, WINA members and officials.