Nestle Maggi clears test, to be back on shelves soon

Nestle India on Friday said all samples of Maggi noodles, whose sale was banned on charges of containing excessive lead, have cleared tests conducted by three laboratories as per Bombay High Court directions.
The company, however, said in a statement that it will commence manufacturing and marketing the brand “only after the newly manufactured products are also cleared by the designated three laboratories”. “We have received test results from all three laboratories (Punjab, Hyderabad and Jaipur) mandated by the Bombay High Court to test Maggi noodles samples. All the 90 samples, covering six variants, tested by these laboratories are clear with lead much below the permissible limits,” Nestle India said in a statement.
“We are committed to reintroducing Maggi noodles “at the earliest, ” it added.
In June, the FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles saying it was unsafe and hazardous for consumption after lead levels in the noodles were found to be over permissible limits. Following the ban, the company had withdrawn the instant noodles from the market and challenged the ban in the Bombay High Court.The company took a hit of Rs 450 crore, including destroying over 30,000 tonnes of the instant noodles since June when it was banned. In August, the court lifted the nationwide ban imposed by Indian food regulators but ordered a fresh test Maggi samples in three independent labs across India.
Nestle said it has conducted over 3,500 tests representing over 200 million packs in both nationally as well as internationally accredited laboratories and the reports are clear. Also, various countries including the US, the UK, Singapore, Australia and others have found Maggi noodles manufactured in India safe for consumption, it said. Nestlé will continue to collaborate with the Centre’s Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the company said.