Here’s all the noteworthy noodle news you may have missed in March 2026. We’ve got an important safety recall from a major manufacturer, a new viral collaboration product from Maruchan, and two announcements from Nissin, one of which may be a mistimed April Fool’s joke. Read on!
Ajinimoto Recalls Millions of Pounds of Products
While I haven’t reviewed any Ajinomoto noodle products at any point in the channel/site’s history, they’re a major manufacturer of both instant noodles and dozens of other noodle-tangential products, like dumplings, frozen meals featuring Asian cuisine, and most importantly MSG. That white powder you can buy at the grocery store that’s sometimes called a “flavor enhancer” is Ajinomoto’s flagship product, and you can find MSG in many products, including instant noodles. So while noodles are not a direct part of this announcement, you can see why I’d report on it. Essentially, the USDA has issued a massive safety recall for 37 million pounds of Ajinomoto products sold in many stores, including Kroger-owned stores and Trader Joe’s. There was apparently foreign material, including glass, possibly contaminating multiple products, and people are advised to take appropriate actions to return the affected products or dispose of them. Read the announcement from the USDA here to see if your food is affected: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/ajinomoto-foods-north-america-inc–expands-recall-chicken-and-pork-fried-rice-ramen.
Maruchan Releases Flamin’ Hot Collaboration
There’s a new ramen collaboration between Maruchan and Frito-Lay: Maruchan Instant Lunch Flamin’ Hot Chicken flavor. The Flamin’ Hot branding is a Frito-Lay trademark, and you’ve probably seen the label on lots of Frito-Lay products like Cheetos, Doritos, and Ruffles potato chips. So now we have yet another spicy ramen from Maruchan, but it’s using the specific Flamin’ Hot branding, which I have to assume means Maruchan is using whatever hot pepper spice blend is being used in those other products. Couple that spice with their basic chicken Instant Lunch flavor, and I’m willing to bet this is a reasonably tasty, spicy experience. I’m planning to pick up one of these if only to see how it compares to the Maruchan Instant Lunch Hot & Spicy Chicken I reviewed a while back. Right now, these appear to be exclusive to Walmart stores and Walmart.com, so if you’re interested, check your local store’s inventory soon because I’m not sure if this product is a limited-time offering or not.
Nissin Partners with Bachan’s
Speaking of limited-time Walmart exclusives, Nissin has partnered with Japanese barbecue sauce manufacturer Bachan’s to produce a trio of limited-time Top Ramen bowls that are exclusive to Walmart stores. All of them are Top Ramen Beef flavor with a different sauce in each bowl: The Original, Sweet & Spicy, and Roasted Garlic (and yes, for some reason the URL for Roasted Garlic says “Garlic Parmesan,” which it is not). Of the three sauces, I’ve only ever tried Bachan’s Original, which I find to be decent for a quick stir-fry, but a little overly sweet for my liking out of the bottle – I find I have to add some more soy sauce and chili crisp to balance it out a bit. The Bachan’s flavor I most enjoy isn’t represented here: Miso. Pairing that flavor with an instant ramen bowl would be amazing. Anyway, as with the Flamin’ Hot Maruchan, get yourself to a Walmart store ASAP if you want to buy these before they go away. I imagine if I make the effort to get the Maruchan cup, I’ll also buy these if I find them and review them here on the site.
Nissin’s Early April Fool’s Joke… Or Is It?
So this happened on March 30th, just in time to make this news post. Nissin posted on their social media a collaboration announcement between Top Ramen and Butterfinger. Yes, the candy bar. If you don’t feel like clicking the Instagram link, or for some reason can’t see it, both the originaltopramen and butterfinger accounts shared an image of a bowl of noodles with packets labeled “Butterfinger Peanut Buttery Glaze” (at least I think it’s “Glaze” but it’s hard to make out with the font and angle they chose), and “Butterfinger Pieces.” There’s an accompanying dipping bowl with what appears to be a peanut butter sauce next to it. The image looks terribly Photoshopped or possibly AI-generated. The text with the image says:
“NEW collab just dropped! 😍 @butterfinger X @originaltopramen is releasing the collab of the century, featuring a peanut buttery glaze and real Butterfinger pieces to bring the crispety, crunchety goodness to your favorite ramen. Check back on 4/1 for more info 👀”
The timing is strange though. Is this an April Fool’s joke? If so, why was it posted on March 30th? Did someone accidentally post it two days early and so they just had to roll with it and say more info was coming on April Fool’s Day? Or was it posted two days early because this isn’t actually an April Fool’s joke and it is a real godforsaken real product? I have no idea, but I guess April’s Noodle News Roundup will have the answer if you don’t feel like reading social media. Real or not, I have to believe it’s a better flavor than S’mores.
