Some weeks ago, when I was sorting through boxes to prepare for the sale of my Star Wars figures, I found these two ramen cups:
The packaging features characters from the Final Fantasy Dissidia game and buying them allowed the unlocking of in-game content. I bought these many years ago, and had intended to send the chicken one (featuring Cloud from FF7) to Florence as a gag gift one time. Obviously, I never did. Sorry Florence!
They’re attractive aren’t they? In preparing this post I learned there were two others as well: a shrimp flavour featuring Lightning (from FF13) and a multi-pack featuring Sephiroth (also from FF7). Given I only have two, I imagine I never saw the others.
The mechanism for getting the game content was a bit archaic: couldn’t they have just printed codes on the packaging? I never actually bought the game itself (I had played it on the PSP) so wouldn’t have even claimed the content even had I opened these over 4 years ago.
Yes, four years ago! Look closely at the above pic and you’ll note they expired on Dec 2018 and Jan 2019! I’m a real straighty-one-eighty when it comes to ‘expiration dates’ (yes I know they are technically best by these days) so it would require a bit of bravery to try these…
Removing the outer packaging removed shows these are just normal cup noodles, but when I removed the plastic wrap from each I discovered the seal on the lid had weakened to the extent the beef one just lifted right off by itself!
This was what they looked like before adding water. Doesn’t the flavoring in each look darker than normal? A quick google search revealed that if the seal had been good, they (in theory) may have been edible although chemical changes in the flavour may have rendered them both unpleasantly salty. However since the seal was compromised there was a risk of mold, which I was not prepared to take. Apparently Nissin themselves advises throwing away noodles more than three months after the ‘best by’ date.
So, alas, I didn’t try them. Rest assured they gave me joy for the nearly five years they were forgotten in a box in the attic, and I’ll certainly keep the outer packaging so I can reblog it in a decade or so 🙂