Medical warning: Viral noodle trend inspired by ‘K-pop Demon Hunters’ causing serious burns

Medical professionals are warning against a new TikTok ramen trend that has caused serious harm to consumers.

It has been reported that the viral Ramen trend inspired by popular Netflix show K-Pop Demon Hunters is leading to severe burn injuries in children.

The new trend involves children and teens imitating a scene from the worldwide hit Korean animated movie by eating hot instant noodles.

Moreover, officials at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Boston shared a press release where they informed that kids have been getting seriously injured trying to create a scene from the popular Netflix movie, K-Pop Demon Hunters in which some of the characters slurp delicious-looking ramen noodles.

Doctors are warning that the ramen trend has become dangerous as injuries are coming from both the temperature of the noodles and hot water being spilled.

Dr. Colleen Ryan a burn care specialist at Shriners Children’s Boston and Harvard Medical School reports that her clinic has been seeing two to three burn cases a week from the viral trend.

"Most of the time, it's when the children open the microwave themselves. Microwaves are usually up high, and they reach in and it's a little too hot for them.”

“Not only is a burn painful, but they can leave a lifelong scar and cause emotional distress”, said Dr.Colleen.

Furthermore many doctors claimed that they have observed kids of all ages coming in with burns after consuming these noodles.

Latest research shows the most impressionable age range of children inspired by the viral ramen trend is between 8 to 10 years.

According to the American Burn Association a scalding injury for adults can occur after contact with 155-degree water for one second, but children’s skin is thinner which is making it easier to burn.

Moreover, a recent study at the University of Chicago also found 31% of childhood scald admissions were caused by instant noodles.

In addition to that the doctors also informed that the tall, narrow containers that instant ramen comes in can easily be knocked over by smaller children, who could be seriously burned as a result.

Medical professionals noticed an increase in children injured as a result of hot soup or noodles spilling on them.

“Water boils at 212 degrees, and the design of these cups makes them extremely easy to tip over. When they do, the hot broth and noodles spill onto the skin,” said Dr. Colleen.

Dr.Colleen Ryan advises that “post-burn first aid is very important”.

In the case of a burn, medical professionals advise the injured to remove all clothing from the burned area and apply cold tap water – not ice – for at least 20 minutes or seek immediate medical help if necessary.

About K-Pop inspired Ramen noodles:

Netflix K-Pop Demon Hunters became the streaming giant’s most-viewed movie as reported in August 2025 with over 263 million views.

The Korean kids-movie follows popular K-pop girl group HUNTR/X as they lead a double life as hunters battling a rival boy band, the Saja Boys, who turn out to be demons.

Moreover, several characters in the K-film can be seen enjoying delicious-looking ramen noodles out of cups.

As a result of which, Nongshim, the Korean instant noodle brand behind Shin Ramyun, dropped an official K-Pop Demon Hunters collaboration for fans.

Noodles produced in the partnership feature colorful designs inspired by the film’s characters and quickly sold out.

Viral videos, with hashtags like #KPopNoodleChallenge and #DemonHuntersRamen, shows people eating Korean instant noodles as the trend encourages TikTok users to eat ramen like the characters in the movie do.