After having found fault with Maggi noodles, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) now plans to test other brands of noodles and snacks items like pasta and macaroni available in the market.
Samples of popular products like ITC’s Sunfeast Yippee, HUL’s Knorr and Nissin Foods’ Top Ramen and Wai Wai will be picked up for testing and by Monday the FSSAI will give out a list of brands that have its approval for sale in the Indian market. In the meantime, on Saturday, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab and Mizoram too clamped down on Maggi.
“We will check all other instant noodle brands as well. Why should we restrict to one brand? We are drawing samples of other noodle brands,” said FSSAI CEO Yudhvir Singh Malik.
“On Monday, we will publish names of all brands of instant noodles, macaroni and pasta which have taken approval from FSSAI to sell their products. Samples of those brands will be collected for testing.
The brands or products that have not taken approval are unauthorised and an action would be contemplated against them,” Malik said, adding there could be many brands which have not taken approval from FSSAI.
The FSSAI, however, has no plans to initiate action against actors who have endorsed Maggi, giving them “benefit of doubt” assuming they may not have an idea about the ingredients of the product. The FSSAI, however, wants all brand ambassadors endorsing products to be aware of the product they are promoting.
Maharashtra decided to impose a ban on Maggi noodles after some samples in Pune were found to contain lead above the permissible limit. “Three of the six samples collected from Pune, Kolhapur and Aurangabad were found to contain lead above the permissible limit,” State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat announced in Pune. Incidentally, samples from Mumbai tested earlier were found to have lead content within permissible limits.
“We have banned the sale of Maggi noodles and as well as its manufacturing at its Moga plant,” Punjab Commissioner Food and Drug Administration Hussan Lal said.
Karnataka Government, which awaiting lab reports on Maggi noodles, has also ordered testing of other noodle brands as well for food safety standards. “Without any justification blindly no decision will be taken. We have sent about 24 samples of Maggi to NABL- accredited private laboratories in Karnataka,” Karnataka Health Minister UT Khader said in Bengaluru. He pointed out one lab has given the report saying the lead content is within the permissible limit. “We are expecting reports from other labs on MSG on Monday,” he added.
“Not only Maggi, because company is not important for us, what is important is whether noodles is healthy or unhealthy; for that we have taken (samples from) seven to eight companies also and our food officers will be giving it for testing, on the basis of the report we will be able to decide on action to be taken in the days to come,” Khader said.
However, following FSSAI orders on Friday, Karnataka has ordered all four units of Nestlé in the State to stop production of instant noodles immediately and withdraw stocks from the market. The FSSAI had ordered recall of all nine variants of Maggi instant noodles from the market and banned their production and sale. Khader said all supermarkets and shops have been ordered not to sell Maggi or exhibit them.
The Minister also warned companies selling energy drinks and powders that claim to help gain weight or height, saying: “We will look into this next. I want these companies to either set it right or withdraw now only, before there is a case on you.”
Similarly, Food Safety Commissioner in Arunachal Pradesh directed distributors, wholesalers and retailers of nine Maggi variants to recall them with immediate effect while Mizoram will ban the sale of Maggi noodles from Monday. Officials said Mizoram has also stopped import and sale of four energy drinks - Monster, Tzinga, Cloud 9 Pomegranate/Red Grape/Wild Berry/Premium and Akoarama - after these were banned by the FSSAI between November 2014 and May 2015. The FSSAI withdrew no objection certificate (NOC) to these energy drinks after the combination of caffeine and ginseng was found to be irrational. Ginseng and caffeine have opposing effects.
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