Nestle India faces prosecution in Maggi noodles issue

Nestle India, the maker of Maggie noodles, is in for further trouble with the Food Safety Officer in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh filing a first information report (FIR) against the company over supply of noodles containing monosodium glutamate and lead in excess of the prescribed limits.

Yesterday, the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) of UP gave its go-ahead to the local unit to file a case against the company and five others in a local court after tests established that the noodles were not fit for consumption.

"FSDA Commissioner P P Singh has given permission to file a case against Nestle India in a local court here," Barabanki Food Safety Officer V K Pandey said on Friday.

The case has been lodged against the company's Nestle Nagal Kalan Industrial Area unit (Haroli, Una in UP), Nestle India Limited, and an Easy Day outlet, among others.

Officials had collected the samples from the Easy Day store in Barabanki and sent the consignment for testing, which showed that the quantum of lead present was 17 times more than the stipulated limit, which is considered hazardous.

Nestle India did not make any comments over the FSDA move to prosecute the company.

The company had earlier said the local authorities in Lucknow had on 30 April 2015 asked it to recall one batch of Maggi Noodles (around 200,000 packs) which were manufactured in February 2014 and had already reached the 'best before date' in November 2014.

Those packs, according to Nestlé India, were to be recalled from distributors / retailers and hence are no longer in the market.

''The company does not agree with the order and is filing the requisite representations with the authorities,'' it said.

Nestle India added, ''It is important to note that there are no other orders to recall Maggie Noodle products in the market. People can be confident that Maggi Noodle products are safe to eat.''

The union ministry of consumer affairs has, meanwhile, asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to look into the matter while union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said yesterday that a class action suit can also be initiated in the matter if a complaint is lodged in this regard with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is likely to order a nation-wide sampling and testing of Nestle's Maggi noodle to investigate whether the product contains more than permissible amount of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG).

But, even before FSSAI launching a nationwide probe, states like as Maharashtra and Gujarat have already initiated action.

Maharashtra Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) has collected samples of Maggi noodles from Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune and sent them for testing at its laboratory while the Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) has started testing the samples collected over the past two days.