FDA seizes 20 tonnes of Maggi noodles from Nestle’s Lucknow warehouse

A month after reports said Swiss food giant Nestle paid Rs20 crore to destroy its stock of Maggi instant noodles, after food safety regulators in India found them to be unsuitable for human consumption, the Uttar Pradesh Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now seized 20 metric tonnes (20,000 kg) of the fast-food from a Nestle warehouse in Lucknow.

Earlier, in 2015, food safety inspectors in Uttar Pradesh had found excessive levels of lead and tastemaker monosodium glutamate (MSG) in some Maggi noodle samples and declared it unfit for consumption.

Since then the product has been tested across the country and most of the tests have backed the UP lab's findings. The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had also banned the sale and consumption of Maggi noodles across the country.

FSSAI had also found Nestle guilty of violating labelling regulations on taste enhancer 'MSG' and had ordered the company to submit compliance report on its orders.

FSSAI had ordered Maggi to be taken off shelves in June 2015, after a few states decided to ban the noodles.

FSSAI had also termed the product "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption.

As Maggi noodles remains subject to a recall order after food safety regulator FSSAI said it had not given any clean bill of health on the safety of the instant noodles, the company now faces legal proceeding.

Nestle India's new chief Suresh Narayanan, however, is in a hurry to bring the instant noodles brand back in the market and has sought to strike a conciliatory note with authorities.