Sunburst Noodle Snack
49 cents per pack at No Frills
Country of origin: Unknown
What is it: When I was growing up, my mother led me to believe that eating uncooked noodles would give me worms. But these tiny snack packs appear to be just that 鈥� crunchy, dry, uncooked noodles 鈥� with the added bonus of palm oil, MSG, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate and delicious malic acid. Oh yeah, and it 鈥渕ay contain fish, crustaceans, milk, peanuts, sesame and mustard.鈥�
In what kind of crazy factory and country did these bad boys originate? Unfortunately an extensive Internet search led nowhere. Equally unhelpful was the snack food鈥檚 Burnaby-based distributor, Toyo, who didn鈥檛 return my email, although its says it trademarked Sunburst way back in 1974. 鈥淭his was our first trademark and over 30 years later [40 years, actually], it is still recognized by consumers as a symbol of value and quality,鈥� boldly reads the website. 鈥淪unburst products are geared towards Canadian tastes. They are produced under our exacting standards and offer the best value, without sacrificing quality, for the Canadian market.鈥�
That said, Sunburst bears an uncanny resemblance to the far more popular Monster Noodle Snack from Malaysian-based company Mamee. However, the imprecision of Sunburst鈥檚 ingredients, which are 鈥済eared towards Canadian tastes,鈥� also extends to the snack鈥檚 branding. While BBQ flavour is a no-brainer, what exactly constitutes 鈥渙riental flavour鈥� is a bit of a mystery. Maybe it鈥檚 shorthand for 鈥渕ay contain soy sauce, among other things.鈥�
Verdict: If eating the stale, salty crumbs from the bottom of a chow mein noodle package is your bag, then enjoy. But I鈥檓 going to continue to adhere to my mother鈥檚 warnings about uncooked noodles and worms.
