Updates
- AAP government in Delhi has banned sale of Nestle India's Maggi noodles for 15 days in the national capital. It ordered sample testing for other noodles brand as well.
The Delhi government is also said to revise the food adulteration Act in Delhi, according to TV reports. - The tests of Maggi noodles samples collected from across Kerala showed lead content was within the permissible limit. The Monosodium glutamate (MSG) report is still awaited, according to news reports.
- The Delhi government will decide whether or not to ban Maggi products in the national capital at around 4 pm on Wednesday.
- Delhi Health Minister met with Nestle India officials on Wednesday to seek answers on the lack of food safety being practiced by it. In the meeting, Nestle told the Delhi government that media is misleading and that they maintain safety standards.
Nestle to Delhi Govt - Dont go by the media reports. Media is misleading. Health and safety are our priority: Delhi Govt sources — ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2015
We met the Delhi Health Minister. Have made a representation, he will review it: Sanjay Khajuria, Nestle India pic.twitter.com/3p7mimkRT9 — ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2015
- The share of Nestle India has dropped by over 10 per cent on Wednesday, following FDA's order to conduct nationwide tests of Maggi noddles' samples.
- Even as many states, including West Bengal, has already begun sample testing of Maggi products, the Food and Drug Administration of India has written to all the state governments asking them to run a test of Maggi noodles' samples.
- The Delhi government and India's one of the leading retailers has decided to withdraw Maggi noodles from its hypermarket company Big Bazaar, following the row over safety standards of Maggi products, manufactured by Nestle India.
Nestle India is bracing for more trouble as states across India have gradually started testing the company's famous Maggi products even as the Delhi government declared a batch of the noodles unsafe on Tuesday. According to latest reports, the Delhi government is likely to lodge an FIR in this connection.
The multinational food and beverage company got entwined in the crisis, when the Uttar Pradesh wing of food regulator Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI) found higher than the permissible limit of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the samples it had collected for testing.
The company suffered another setback when the Tamil Nadu wing of the food regulator declared a 380g sample of company's milk powder unsafe after finding 28 live larvae and 22 Sitophilus oryzae (rice weevils) in one packet.
Delhi
After finding 10 of the 13 samples collected from across the national capital as "unsafe", the Delhi government said it would initiate a case against the company.
"Last week, a total of 13 samples of Maggi noodles were lifted and on test/analysis of the same it was found that in case of masala (tastemaker) part of the Maggi noodles, 10 masala samples were found unsafe having lead exceeding the prescribed limits. The prescribed maximum limit of lead is 2.5 ppm," the Delhi government states, IANS reports.
The statement said, "five samples of masala were also having monosodium glutamate without proper label declaration" and "this falls under the category of misbranding".
"The government has decided to initiate a case against the company for selling unsafe product and fine the company for misbranding of product," the statement further reveals.
The AAP government in Delhi will meet Nestle officials on Wednesday to discuss the lack of safety practiced by the company. Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that any action needed in view of the event will be taken after the meeting.
Karnataka
The trail of events that has put Maggi products under the scanner has forced the Karnataka government to call for testing of the noodles' samples in a state-run lab in Mysuru.
"I have directed my officials to randomly lift packets of Maggi noodles from retail shops, supermarkets, malls and its manufacturing units across the state for testing at CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute) to verify if food safety norms are violated," state Health Minister UT Khader told reporters in Mangaluru, according to IANS.
The Karnataka government has requested the people of the state to avoid consumption of Maggi noodles until the results of the test arrive.
"We are expecting test results from the labs in a day or two. Till then, we advise people to avoid buying or consuming them (Maggi noodles) though we have not imposed any ban on its sale in the state," Khader said.
Kerala
Even the Kerala government has taken a stern action by ordering recall of Maggi noodles from all government-run shops or outlets across the state.
The state-owned Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) has on Tuesday decided to stop sale of Maggi noodles at its 1,424 outlets across the state. Food Minister Anoop Jacob has instructed the officials to return the products to the supplier.
Haryana
The Haryana government also ordered sample testing of Maggi noodles on Tuesday, after reports that Nestle is failing to conform to safety standards intensified.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij has directed the health department director general to collect samples of Maggi noodles from across the state and test it. He said that if the test proves that the company is practising ignorance in safety standards, the government will order pullout of all products from the market.
Celebrities face lawsuit for endorsing Maggi noodles
Even a few celebrities were dragged into the Maggi soup, when an advocate in Uttar Pradesh filed a lawsuit against Indian cine stars Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Priety Zinta for endorsing Maggi noodles as healthy.
This was followed by another lawsuit filed on the instruction of a Bihar court. The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Ramchandra Prasad directed the authorities to file an FIR against Nestle officials and actors/brand ambassadors of Maggi Bachchan and Dixit in Muzaffarpur's Kazi Mohammadpur Police Station.
The court's order came after petitioner Sudhir Kumar Ojha claimed that he fell ill after eating Maggi noodles bought on 30 May.
