Oodles of noodles

April 6, 2008 7:41 AM

How many noodles are in a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup?

OK, my team won trivia night last night, but we got the above question wrong. That is to say: we had no earthly idea and instead used a mulligan.

My question is twofold.

First, is this just nonsense? Can anyone confirm the number of noodles? (I'll keep that secret for now.)

Second, what bizarrely dehumanizing manufacturing process from the future would lead to the same number of noodles each time? We theorized a precise measurement of weight, or a more linear packaging process than scooping soup would seem to imply.

I should obviously contact Campbell's corporate (and I still might), but we're more fun. Thanks all!

posted by dosterm to grab bag (15 comments total)

Second, what bizarrely dehumanizing manufacturing process from the future would lead to the same number of noodles each time?

I expect it's weight. If the noodles are all the same size then the same mass should contain the same number of noodles. (so the fact that there's the same number of noodles is just the result of having the same weight plus a consistent size for the noodles -- not that there's a specific effort made to have the exact same number of noodles in each can)
posted by winston at 7:54 AM on April 6

FWIW, they must have got the information from Campbell's, so if the Internet can't help you, a phone call to Campbell's probably can.
posted by winston at 7:57 AM on April 6

I think winston has it. I saw one of those shows on the Food Network once where they visited a Campbell's factory and they were filling each can from the top with a precise dosage of noodles. I think the broth was separate but I can't remember. Those industrial machines are going to work by weight or volume, not by noodle-count.

Weird fact, they put in raw noodles and cook them in the can after it's been sealed.
posted by cabingirl at 8:05 AM on April 6

what bizarrely dehumanizing manufacturing process from the future would lead to the same number of noodles each time?

A plate with a given number of holes that the noodle dough is pushed through would give this result. That might not be how it's actually done -- but if you wanted to know that, you'd have called Campbell's.

I prefer my noodles throughly dehumanized, myself. Those humanized noodles make terrible screaming noises when I'm trying to eat my soup.
posted by yohko at 8:11 AM on April 6 [4 favorites]

google conversions don't work on this one.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 8:17 AM on April 6 [7 favorites]

Mmmm... human noodles. ;)

It makes total sense if they cook the noodles after they're in the can. *moment of clarity*

FWIW, the answer they gave was 225 noodles per can.
posted by dosterm at 8:26 AM on April 6

I'm going to fact-check that one tomorrow, dosterm.
posted by Jimbob at 8:36 AM on April 6

According to this page (Google cached), which seems to be (or to have been) an official Campbell's of Canada page, the average number is 216. So, (a) 225 is incorrect, and (b) it's not necessarily the same number in every can. Various trivia sites seem to have turned "216 noodles in an average can" into "exactly 216 noodles in every can."
posted by beagle at 8:55 AM on April 6

John Ratzenberger's "Made In America" show has the answer in the episode where they visit the Campbell's Soup factory. IIRC: 216.
posted by lothar at 9:17 AM on April 6

Is this a Fermi question? If so, it should have a fermiquestion tag.
posted by neuron at 10:14 AM on April 6

Obviously, since the answer seems to be derived from information put out by Campbell's themselves, it is not a Fermi question.

And, if posed as a Fermi question, it's really not answerable, because you can't get the answer by using "estimation" or "numerical reasoning." In the absence of company information, you can only get it by sampling actual cans of soup, randomly, and averaging the results.
posted by beagle at 10:48 AM on April 6

Weird fact, they put in raw noodles and cook them in the can after it's been sealed.

Of course they do. That's how they can stay fresh for months and months without refrigeration. This isn't just with noodles, by the way. It's called canning.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:54 AM on April 6 [1 favorite]

chatfilter:
As a trivia question writer, I've always hated (and avoided) questions like this. Personally I dont think it qualifies as (capital T) "Trivia". Sure, its entertaining (I suppose, to some), but knowing this factoid doesnt help you in any way, and doesnt really teach you anything. Its the same reason I habitually tend to avoid sports trivia because most sports trivia is boring statistics with no connection to anything other than the event/game it happened in. (they make great tie breaker questions though)

Trivia should be interesting and topical. Its a way of making seemingly boring and uninteresting topics relevant to a modern audience. If, at the end of a night of trivia, a clueless teenager comes up to me and says: "Wow, you made me appreciate 70's music" or "I never knew American Idol could be connected to early US Presidents" or something like that, then I've done my job. I like brainstorming about everyday things people take for granted, and writing trivia questions that make people appreciate their world in new ways. ./chatfilter
posted by jmnugent at 12:42 PM on April 6 [3 favorites]

So, jmnugent, you've piqued my curiosity -- how do you connect American Idol and early US presidents?
posted by katemonster at 1:02 PM on April 6

I have a relative who worked for Campbell's, and I can assure you that while the Quality Control gets to a very high level indeed, the idea that it can get precisely the same number of noodles in each can is absurd. When you are producing literally billions of cans of soup per year, the law of large numbers all but guarantees that not only will you have some variation, but somewhere out there is a can of chicken noodle soup with no noodles in it.

Think about it: even if you were able to achieve the much-vaunted "six-sigma" QA standard of 99.9999% - which for practical purposes is unrealistic in all but the most ideal of hypothetical manufacturing processes - when we're talking about billions of cans, that's still potentially thousands a year that get through to store shelves with serious defects.

As such, the idea that there is one correct answer to this question is patently absurd, and the question, as structured, is unanswerable. Or more precisely it has so many correct answers that its useless, as any number between 0 and 300 is probably correct, in that in the decades upon decades during which Campbell's has been making soup, at least once a can has rolled off the line with just about any number of noodles in it that's physically possible.

Now, while "Campbell's QA standards dictate that a can of chicken noodle soup should have at least how many noodles in it?" would at least have a valid and meaningful answer, its still at best a mediocre trivia question.
posted by ChasFile at 3:22 PM on April 6