Tamil Nadu banned the manufacture, stocking and sale of Maggi and three other noodle brands — Wai Wai Xpress Noodles, Reliance Select Instant Noodles and Smith and Jones Chicken Masala Noodles — on Thursday for three months after samples of the products were found to contain unacceptable levels of lead.
Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam have banned the sale of Maggi, while the Gujarat government has banned it and another noodles brand — SK Foods — for violating food safety standards.
The Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department had sent samples of all four brands from across the State for testing. Of the 17 samples lifted from Chennai, the results of seven are out and six of them have been found to contain lead higher than the mandated limit of 2.5 parts per million, according to a press release.
The Tamil Nadu government has also sent notices to the manufacturers to withdraw the stocks currently available in the State markets.
Uttarakhand banned the sale of Maggi for three months after lab tests showed the presence of monosodium glutamate (MSG), a taste enhancer.
“Fifty-four samples were collected and sent to the Food Testing Laboratory in Rudrapur [in Udham Singh Nagar district]. The result of a sample from the Pauri area showed the presence of MSG,” said Joint Commissioner (Food Safety) B.R. Tamta said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government banned the sale of Maggi noodles for one month. In Gujarat, Maggi and SK Foods noodles have been banned for a month after the products failed the food safety test. The Assam government banned the chicken-flavoured Maggi for 30 days after finding the presence of MSG in the noodles.
The Delhi government, which imposed a ban on sale of Maggi noodles for 15 days on Wednesday, has sent samples of nine other instant noodles brands for laboratory testing.
( Additional reporting by PTI )
| » | In April, the food regulator of Uttar Pradesh, UP FDA had ordered recall of a batch of about 2 lakh packs of the Maggi instant noodles due to higher than permitted levels of lead and food additives. |
| » | After Uttar Pradesh, 14 states conducted tests on samples of Maggi for food safety. Five states, including Delhi, have banned it. |
| » | On May 29, taking a “serious” note of quality issues related to global giant Nestle’s famous noodle brand Maggi, the government asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to look into the matter. The FSSAI has collected more samples of Maggi from different states for testing. |
| » | Meanwhile, Hindi actors Madhuri Dixit, Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta, who endorse Maggi were served legal notice on the claims made in the advertisement. A complaint was filed in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Barabanki, on May 30, by lawyer Santosh Kumar Singh, saying that by endorsing Maggi the film stars have misled people. The Consumer Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary G Gurucharan says "brand ambassadors would be liable for action if advertisements are found to be misleading.” |
| » | On May 30, Madhuri Dixit tweeted that she met officials of Nestle and the company has reassured that "they adhere to stringent testing for quality and safety and are working with the authorities closely.” |
| » | The same day, the Food Safety and Drug Administration of the U.P. government filed a case against the manufacturing company, Nestle India Ltd., and five others, including the Barabanki store from where samples with excess lead were seized. |
| » | The Uttarakhand Food Safety Department too collected samples of the noodle brand from the company’s plant at Pantnagar in the State. Confirming the presence of MSG, the state banned Maggi. |
| » | Nestle India said it has got tested samples of the noodle brand in an external laboratory as well as in-house and the product has been found “safe to eat” with lead levels within the permissible levels for consumption. The company was, however, silent on presence of the taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG). |
| » | Nestle India's stocks continued to slumpamid growing concerns about safety standards of its popular Maggi noodles. In a BSE filing, the company said it has not received any order from the central or any state FDA authority for recall of its Maggi noodles. |
| » | State-owned retail outlets in Kerala and Delhi have banned the sale of Maggi. Leading retail chain Big Bazaar has also reportedly taken them off from its shelves. |
| » | Army has issued advisory to its personnel asking them not to eat Maggi noodles and directed its canteens not to sell them till further orders. |
