Court said the nine variants of Maggi noodles should be sent for testing to three accredited labs in India
The court gave six weeks for the tests to be carried out. If the test results show lead is found within permissible levels of 2.5 ppm, Nestle is free to resume manufacture and sales of Maggi noodles .
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday set aside the Indian food safety regulator’s order for Nestle India Ltd to withdraw its Maggi noodles and called for fresh tests to be conducted within six weeks.
In the interim, the company cannot make or sell Maggi noodles, it said.
The court said the nine Maggi variants should be tested at three accredited laboratories in India certified by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).
If the test results show lead is found within permissible levels of 2.5 ppm, Nestle is free to resume manufacture and sales of Maggi noodles.
The judge also noted that principles of natural justice were not followed in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) 5 June order.
Nestle shares rose as much as 5.8% after the court order, and were trading at `6408 apiece, up 3.6%, while the benchmark Sensex was up 0.29% at 27,591.17 points.
Nestlé had to withdraw its instant noodles brand Maggi from the market over allegations of high lead content and presence of MSG (monosodium glutamate).
FSSAI asked Nestle India to immediately withdraw all nine variants of its Maggi noodles, calling them “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption.
Following the order, Nestle said it would recall all Maggi noodles packets from the market. The company estimated it would have to destroy more than 30,000 tonnes of the noodles. The process is yet to be completed.
On 12 June, Nestle India filed a case challenging the order passed by FSSAI and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Maharashtra banning the production and distribution of Maggi noodles. Nestle also claimed that Maggi is safe for human consumption based on tests conducted in its own laboratory and an independent third-party laboratory, which contradicted the test reports cited by FSSAI.
On 5 August, FSSAI further clarified that it has not given “any clean chit” to Nestle India regarding the safety of Maggi noodles.
On Wednesday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said its tests had found lead levels within acceptable levels for US consumers. Countries such as the UK, Singapore, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Hong Kong have already declared Maggi noodles safe.
The ban on the sale of Maggi noodles has already impacted Nestle India’s revenue. For the first time in 15 years, the local unit of the Swiss packaged food firm reported a quarterly loss, for the three months ending 30 June. Maggi noodles accounted for about 30% of its sales. Nestle India reported a loss of `64.4 crore in the April-June quarter, compared with a net profit of `287.86 crore in the year-ago period.
On 11 August, the government filed a class action suit against Nestle India seeking about `640 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements.
The department has filed this class action suit on behalf of the large number of consumers of Maggi in the country against Nestle India on grounds of unfair trade practices, sale of defective goods and sale of Maggi Oats Noodles to the public without product approval, the ministry said.
The consumer affairs ministry has dragged the company to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) using a provision for the first time in the nearly three-decade-old Consumer Protection Act.
A day after the class action suit was filed, Nestle India said it was disappointed with the ‘unprecedented step’.
“We are disappointed with the unprecedented step of filing of a complaint before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against Nestle India,” the company said in a statement.
Nestle India clarified that it maintained “the highest standards of food quality and safety in the manufacture of all its products” and “have a stringent programme to test the ingredients that go to make Maggi noodles”.
The company said it had tested over 2,700 samples of Maggi noodles by several accredited laboratories both in India and abroad and each one of the tests showed lead to be far below the permissible limits.
“In addition, Maggi noodles made in India have been tested and found to be safe for consumption by the authorities of several countries across the world,” the company claimed.
The NCRDC will hear the case on 14 August, according to its website.
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