Ajisen fined over false ads
Japanese noodle chain Ajisen Ramen was fined 200,000 yuan (US$31,502) for providing false information about the nutritional content of its soup bases, the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said late on Friday.
In July, it was revealed that Ajisen was not cooking its soups fresh as the fast food chain had claimed in adverts. It was also accused of exaggerating the nutritional value of its noodles.
The chain claimed on its menu that a bowl of noodle soup contained 1,600 milligrams of calcium. A 250-milliliter glass of milk has 315 milligrams of calcium.
However, the Institute of Food Science and Nutrition Engineering of China Agricultural University found the calcium content was 485 milligrams per 100 grams of concentrate, meaning a bowl of Ajisen noodle soup contains only 48.5 milligrams of calcium.
Ajisen's Shanghai operator later admitted the soup base was made from a liquid concentrate and they had exaggerated the calcium content due to a "counting mistake."
