Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen noodles, has died of a heart attack in Japan. Ando was 96. Plucky to the last, he made a new year’s speech at the corporate offices of his company on Wednesday before returning home and falling ill.
Ando started his own seafood company in 1948, and a decade later invented the dried packaged noodles that became a favorite of college students and bachelors everywhere. Ando’s company, Nissin, remains the leading name in ramen worldwide. According to CBS Marketwatch, by 2003 the company had sold more than 20 billion servings of noodles.
Ando saw his invention as social aid for postwar Japan as well as a foodstuff. As he put it, “Peace prevails when food suffices.”
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