Gujarat and Karnataka may have announced lifting of ban on Maggi, but its manufacturer Nestle India will have to wait for some more time before it could make plans to sell the instant noodles across the country.
Refusing to believe the claim of the Nestle India that all its samples have passed the safety parameter test from the labs, the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to ask the labs to share the reports with it.
A senior official in the top food regulator said that the authority cannot go by the claims of the Nestle that its products are safe. “We are yet to get the report. While Nestle has not shared the report with us, which they should have, we are writing to the three labs to send the results of the sample test. Our next course of action will depend on the lab report outcome,” the official said.
He further said that the FSSAI, an autonomous body under the Union Health Ministry will give clean chit to the company only after it is satisfied with the results.
In June this year, the food regulator had ordered Maggi to be recalled after tests in some laboratories had shown lead levels above the permissible limit.
Nestle India challenged the ban in the Bombay High Court. In August, the court asked the company to get the samples tested at specified laboratories. Last week, the Nestle India claimed that “we have received test results from all three laboratories mandated by the Bombay High Court to test Maggi noodles samples. All the 90 samples, covering 6 variants, tested by these laboratories are clear with lead much below the permissible limits.”
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government has announced its decision to challenge the lifting of the ban. The Uttarakhand Government too is not in a hurry to lift the ban on production and sale of Maggi noodles with the State officials saying that they were seeking legal advise in the matter. A case is pending in the Uttarakhand High Court at Nanital pertaining to the Maggi noodles. The next hearing is on November 3.
Nestle’s largest manufacturing facility for Maggi in India is located at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.
Refusing to believe the claim of the Nestle India that all its samples have passed the safety parameter test from the labs, the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to ask the labs to share the reports with it.
A senior official in the top food regulator said that the authority cannot go by the claims of the Nestle that its products are safe. “We are yet to get the report. While Nestle has not shared the report with us, which they should have, we are writing to the three labs to send the results of the sample test. Our next course of action will depend on the lab report outcome,” the official said.
He further said that the FSSAI, an autonomous body under the Union Health Ministry will give clean chit to the company only after it is satisfied with the results.
In June this year, the food regulator had ordered Maggi to be recalled after tests in some laboratories had shown lead levels above the permissible limit.
Nestle India challenged the ban in the Bombay High Court. In August, the court asked the company to get the samples tested at specified laboratories. Last week, the Nestle India claimed that “we have received test results from all three laboratories mandated by the Bombay High Court to test Maggi noodles samples. All the 90 samples, covering 6 variants, tested by these laboratories are clear with lead much below the permissible limits.”
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government has announced its decision to challenge the lifting of the ban. The Uttarakhand Government too is not in a hurry to lift the ban on production and sale of Maggi noodles with the State officials saying that they were seeking legal advise in the matter. A case is pending in the Uttarakhand High Court at Nanital pertaining to the Maggi noodles. The next hearing is on November 3.
Nestle’s largest manufacturing facility for Maggi in India is located at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.
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