Bombay HC allows Nestle India to export Maggi

The Bombay High Court has allowed Nestle India to export Maggi noodles after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it had no objection to the company selling the product abroad despite a ban on it sale in India.

FSSAI, however, said it stood by its decision to ban nine variants of the food snack in the country for being hazardous to public health.

The Food Safety and Drug Administration in Uttar Pradesh had found high lead content in Maggi instant noodles after it was found to contain high quantities of lead and tastemaker MSG during routine tests on two dozen packets of the popular snack.

The division bench of high court consisting of justices VM Kanade and BP Colabawala on Tuesday permitted Nestle India to export all nine variants of Maggi, despite its ban in India.

The court granted Nestle India permission to export the product after government counsel Mehmood Pracha said the government has no objection in exporting these if Nestle can vouch for their safety.

"Why blame us... If the company claims that its product is safe and follows the safety standards then let them export it instead of destroying," he said.

Nestle India's senior counsel Iqbal Chagla informed the court that Nestle India had recalled 40,000 crore packets from shops across the country and that 17,000 crore packets have already been destroyed, adding that the process will be completed by the end-July.

In its affidavit filed in the Bombay high court, FSSAI has submitted that there was no anomaly in its order to recall Maggi from outlets across India as well as to stop its production. The food regulator also said the directives issued to Nestle India were well within its powers under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

FSSAI said that without a risk assessment and the grant of product approval the product could not be allowed to remain in the market.

The state FDA in its affidavit has also strongly defended its action to prohibit the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of Maggi noodles.

Chagla, who was arguing against the ban on the brand by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and later Maharashtra's food safety commissioner, requested the court for final hearing as he had received affidavits from these authorities.

The court adjourned the matter till 14 July.