Nestlé India now has to test 45 samples within the next six weeks before it can get the go-ahead to resume sales
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday admitted Nestlé India Ltd’s plea to reduce the number of samples to be tested to 45 across three accredited laboratories. According to the court’s earlier order, 3,750 samples had to be tested.
“By an order passed today, the court was pleased to allow Nestlé India’s application praying for bringing out certain factual corrections in the judgement dated 13 August 2015 and for seeking clarity on certain aspects of sampling for tests to be conducted in accordance with the directions of the court. The court has allowed that five samples of each variant be sent to the three accredited laboratories for testing,” Rajesh Batra, counsel for Nestlé, said.
On 28 August, Nestlé had moved the court to allow it to send five random samples of each of the nine variants to three accredited laboratories, instead of sending five samples for each of the 750 batches of all nine variants, as directed by the court in its 13 August order.
The 13 August ruling, which was in Nestlé’s favour, had set aside the 5 June ban by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on the sale and manufacture of Maggi noodles in India.
However, it had directed Nestlé to test 3,750 samples. Based on the test results, the company would be allowed to resume manufacture and sale of Maggi noodles, the court had said.
Following the hearing on Friday, the company now has to test 45 samples within the next six weeks before it can get the go-ahead to resume sales. The sampling procedure will be decided by the food safety officer, the court said.
Meanwhile, with the country’s largest noodles brand off the shelves, yoga guru Ramdev has launched his own brand of atta noodles from his consumer packaged foods company, the Patanjali Group. These noodles are a healthy alternative to Maggi noodles, Ramdev claimed.
Also, ITC Ltd, maker of Yipee noodles, has launched a fresh campaign for its noodles, which talks about the safe and hygienic environment and quality standards the company uses in manufacturing the product.
Nestle has also launched three commercials on its official YouTube channel Meri Maggi as it looks at keeping the brand alive in the minds of its consumers. Bringing Maggi noodles back to retail shelves was a priority, Nestlé India managing director Suresh Narayanan said in August in an interview to television channel CNBC TV18.
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