Maggi noodles, one of the most popular instant noodles serving the country’s diverse palette has been at the center of controversy after Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ordered a nationwide ban following mounting concerns over ingredients such as lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) in excess of the prescribed limit, which are potential health hazards.
Yesterday, in what can be a relief to Nestle India, the UK food regulator declared Maggi as safe and not containing lead above the permissible limit. An NDTV article reported:
“The Food Safety Agency can confirm that results from testing samples of Maggi Noodles in the UK have all found that levels of lead in the product is well within EU permissible levels and would not be a concern to consumers.”
The food regulators of other countries including Australia and Singapore have also cleared samples of Maggi noodles imported from India.
Earlier, Nestle India had challenged the ban by FSSAI in Bombay High Court, on its nine variants of snacks retailed in the country. It had also questioned a similar order by the Maharashtra government prohibiting the sale of the same products over the health scare.
“As the suggestion came from FSSAI that it had no objection to the company exporting Maggi to other countries, the high court gave liberty to Nestle India for selling the products outside India if it wanted to, and subject to compliance of rules and health and food safety standards.”
Following the ban the company had recalled 11,000 crore packets of Maggi from the domestic market. With Maggi disappearing from the shelves at most supermarkets and stores, other processed food products have also been recommended for tests by food regulators such as FSSAI and state Food and Drug Administration departments.
A news published in The Indian Express has quoted a manufacturer of Nestle products, on condition of anonymity that around 11,000 employees were rendered jobless after all six factories of Nestle India shut down.
Nestle Chief Paul Bulcke, firm in his resolve on restoring the brand in the Indian markets and resuming production at the earliest so that people could go back to their jobs, said “The product is safe.”
Bulcke stated that the enormity of the brand (Maggi), established worldwide, also led to the shock wave (ban) causing a ripple effect in the international markets. An Economic Times column quoted Bulcke commenting on the perception ban has raked up:
“Food has never been safer. But there is this perception and we have to work on that. We have to reconnect with consumers.”
India is Maggi’s biggest market in the world. Nestle revealed that the impugned ban led to 3.2 billion rupees (44.5 million euros, USD 50.5 million) worth of goods being withdrawn, maybe the biggest ever in the company’s marketing history. Are the food testing centers in various parts of the country complying with the guidelines while analyzing the contents of food products? We cannot say for sure as Maggi samples showed different results across different labs in the country.
For a brand that has catered to the needs of people for more than three decades and had a 70 per cent market share, was this alarmism a well-planned move to ouster it from the market by its rivals?
Who will be held to account for killing a brand, costing jobs and damaging reputations?
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