The traditional method Asian restaurants use to prepare and cook noodles is to store them in room temperature, but Washington state's Board of Health is looking to quash the practice.
This process, practiced in a number of local noodle houses like the Hue Ky Mi Gia in the Lincoln District in Tacoma, but the local health officials now require the fresh noodles to be refrigerated. This move has sparked some resistance from local noodle manufacturers and restaurant owners.
"The rice noodles, you can't really refrigerate those," said Huy Tat in an interview with The News Tribune."We don't store them in there, because they get really hard."
The recent development also disturbs Tim Louie, president of the Tsue Chong company based in Seattle's International District which is responsible for making over 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of fresh rice noodles. His concerns are in line with Tat, saying the noodles would be automatically ruined if it were placed straight at the fridge.
"Culturally, in Asia, we keep the stuff out," Louie said when reached for comment by The News Tribune. "We don't even refrigerate it - we keep it out until it's consumed. But of course, here in the U.S., the laws are different."
Fortunately for noodle makers and restaurant operators, the new food safety rules might be revised, thanks to the state Legislature. A bill sponsored by Rep. Tomiko Santos in the state House asks the local Board of Health to reconsider whether fresh noodles or rice cakes should go into the fridge or not. Without the said measure, the Board of Health would not issue new food safety recommendations until 2018.
Basically, the bill instructs the board to develop new requirements based on scientific research. A study by Asian scientific journals backs up noodle makers and restaurant owners. It states rice noodles remain fresh at room temperature at least for a day after they are produced.
Furthermore, Sen. Bob Hasegawa, who sponsors the bill in the Senate, said that state's food rules fail to take into account the noodles made from rice. Instead, it uses the food safety rules for noodles which contain wheat and animal products.
Legislators also cite cultural considerations, saying that the new board measure clashes with Asian culinary traditions.
