West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that no “objectionable material” was found in Maggi noodles in the state after laboratory tests were conducted and hence no action was taken.
“Five tests have been conducted on the product in central as well as state laboratories. The Kolkata Municipal corporation also got three tests done on Maggi. But so far no harmful material was found. The state government has not taken any action since nothing objectionable is found,” Ms. Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.
She, however, said that the state government during the day received a circular from the central government banning sale of Maggi noodles.
The Chief Minister pointed out that food safety is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution.
Her statement contrasted with the findings of the central food safety regulator FSSAI which stated that nine variants of Maggi noodles had been found to be “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption and asked Nestle to stop their production, import and sale with immediate effect.
Ms. Banerjee, however, said that investigation was a continuous process and that action would be taken if anything harmful was found in the product. Further investigation was needed, she said.
