Amway seeks more time to present its side

Nagpur: Amway Enterprises Pvt Ltd has sought some more time from the state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA-food section) to put forth its side before the administration, in response to the show cause notice issued by FDA on February 21 on recall of certain products. FDA has agreed to give the company some time and discuss the issue with Amway officials.

The need for the recall arose when the Food Safety and Standards of India (FSSAI) warned the company at national level to withdraw six of its products as they did not meet the FSSAI specifications. Following this the state FDA sent a letter to various cities in Maharashtra to recall these products. But in Nagpur, despite a recall notice of seven days, FDA found two of the products in two different inspections at the company's warehouse in Wadi and a showroom in Eternity mall on January 30 and February 27 (almost after a month).

Assistant commissioner FDA (food) NR Wakode told TOI that in the first inspection at Eternity mall by food safety officer PA Umap, Nutrilite Natural B 100 tablets (batch num 4363BK52 manufactured 12/14) and 160 Nutrilite Cal mag-D tablets (batch no 4365BLA1 manufactured 12/12/14) were found while in the second inspection conducted after the recall notice on February 27, a stock of 480 Cal Mag-D tablets and 120 Natural B tablets were found.

However, Amway has submitted that it will not be selling any of these products, even if the findings were true. Also the company has sent a list of 403 persons (probably of clients who are members of the chain marketing system) who have recalled these two products. "We trust the company and will wait for an adjudication till we discuss the issue on one to one basis," said Wakode.

After an earlier news by TOI dated February 2, Jignesh Mehta, regional corporate communications and CSR manager (west) Amway India Limited at Mumbai had clarified that the company had already withdrawn BIO C from the market. He had claimed that the current recommended dose of Indians was much lower as compared to WHO norms. Hence the company was selling the Cal mag-D and Natural B products with lower dose and changed labels. "However, this is also illegal until FSSA has given it a product approval," said Wakode.

On Wednesday Mehta in a statement sent to TOI said, "We are a law abiding corporate and are complying with the advice of the state FDA authority. We have given a detailed written response to the FDA's notice and have also sought a personal meeting to explain our stand."