Even after a month, single noodle sample result still awaited

KOLHAPUR: A month has passed and the city unit of the Food and Drug administration (FDA) is still awaiting the result of the single sample of Top Ramen noodles, which was sent to a Pune-based laboratory on June 13. The authorities said that no details have been heard from the laboratory till now. The Top Ramen brand had already been off the shelves, when the company had decided to withdraw the product from the market last month. 

S M Deshmukh, assistant commissioner, city unit of FDA, told TOI, "We are still waiting for the result of Top Ramen noodles. We have not yet heard of any news from the laboratory." 

After the controversy of Maggi noodles earlier, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in the first week of June had advised the FDA to draw samples of similar products for which product approvals have been granted by the FSSAI. 

Deshmukh said that the process of destroying the Maggi noodle stock, worth more than Rs 40 lakh, has been completed in the last month. 

Earlier, the FDA had collected nearly 16 Maggi noodle samples, which showed the presence of excessive MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) in 12 samples and lead in excess of the permissible limits in four samples. The lead content which is permissible up to 2.5 PPM (parts per million) was found to be in excess range of 3 to 3.5 ppm in the random samples sent from the city.