After a 15-day local government ban in New Delhi, noodle lovers are finding secret means to get their fix
An Indian shopkeeper removing packaged Maggi noodles from display in Allahabad last week
The Maggi brand of noodles has reportedly become a sought-after contraband item in New Delhi as noodle-lovers try to get around a local government ban for a fix.
Last week, Nestlé recalled its instant snack nationwide, and New Delhi's government imposed a 15-day ban on the noodles after regulators reported excess levels of lead in a batch they tested.
But with shelves empty of the much-loved market-leader, shop-owners reported no drop in enquiries from hungry customers.
"The demand has been the same," one shop-owner told India's Hindustan Times.
A vendor prepares Maggi noodles at a roadside eatery in New Delhi ignoring the ban
Another coyly denied he had any in stock, before admitting that he had been pushing the noodles, one pack at a time, to trusted "old customers".
The embattled Maggi brand received some good news after Singapore's food safety regulator has cleared the instant snack for sale after imposing a temporary ban while tests were pending.
Nestlé remained adamant that its noodles are safe. The Swiss food giant said it has conducted tests on over 1,600 batches at its own and external labs and reports lead-levels "well within the regulatory limits established in India".
Indian slum children hold packets of Maggi brand noodles as they take part in a protest against them in Bhopal
Meanwhile it has emerged that the original batch of noodles, that regulators said tested positive for lead, was lost in the post for two months. Reuters news agency reported that the test-batch eventually turned up in Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas, from where it was then sent to the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata.
Nestlé has said in the past that the suspect batch may have been contaminated during its lengthy transit while company bosses suggested to Indian regulators that excess lead was detected because the samples "remained open for a long period of time" before testing.
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