OSAKA — Momofuku Ando, inventor of the instant ramen noodle and founding chairman of Nissin Food Products Co., died of a heart attack on Friday evening. He was 96.

Born in Taiwan, Ando initially set up a trading company in Taipei before founding a wholesale company in Osaka in 1933.

Ando decided to deal in food after seeing people suffer from poor diet during World War II. Later, he built a laboratory in the garden of his home in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, and began developing instant noodles there.

By trial and error Ando found a method to dry noodles using hot oil, and finally succeeded in the development of the world’s first instant noodle in 1958, called “Chicken Ramen.”

The instant noodle was a big hit, and his company marketed instant “Cup Noodles” in 1971.

Ando opened an instant ramen museum in Ikeda in 1999, where visitors can experience the creation of instant noodles.

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By Sun Tzu on 06-01-2007