Hungry US Inmates Ditch Cigarettes for Japanese Noodles as Prison Currency

Prison food in the US is so bad that inmates trade noodles instead of cigarettes, according to a new study.

Inmates in US prisons are increasingly trading food like noodles instead of cigarettes, according to a new study by Michael Gibson-Light, a researcher at the University of Arizona School of Sociology.

However, Gibson-Light suggests that the change is not a result of smoking bans in US jails, but rather a reaction to state cost-cutting measures which have decreased the quality of prison food.

"Prisoners are so unhappy with the quality and quantity of prison food that they receive that they have begun relying on ramen noodles—a cheap, durable food product—as a form of money in the underground economy," he said, Phys.org reported.

"Because it is cheap, tasty, and rich in calories, ramen has become so valuable that it is used to exchange for other goods."

The researcher calls the cost-cutting "punitive frugality," which happens in practice but is not expressed in legislation.

"Punitive frugality is not a formal prison policy, but rather an observable trend in prison administration practice in institutions throughout the country," he said.

In 2014 the US Federal Bureau of Prisons officially banned smoking and possession of tobacco in any form by prison inmates. The authorities also clamped down on smoking in 2006 when cigarettes were taken off the shelves of prison stores.

Most state and local jails also have restrictions on smoking, and 20 states have completely banned smoking on prison grounds. In prisons where cigarettes are banned, they sell for up to $20 each as contraband, and whole packs can sell for up to $200.