Instant noodle inventor dies

OSAKA, Japan, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Ramen noodles inventor and Nissin Food Products Co. founder Momofuku Ando has died in Osaka, Japan at age 96.

Ando died of a heart attack Friday night, the Mainichi Daily News reported Saturday.

The Taiwan native initially set up a trading company in Taipei before founding a wholesale company in Osaka in 1933.

Later, he began developing instant noodles in a lab at his home, succeeding in 1958 with creation of the "Chicken Ramen."

The instant noodle was a big hit and his company began marketing instant "Cup Noodles" in 1971, Mainichi said.