Nestle says Maggi safe, Delhi says Maggi unsafe, Kerala withdraws Maggi, Celebrities in trouble

The Maggi noodles issue has been kicking up a storm in India.
Initially, last week the Uttar Pradesh FDA first said that there was excessive lead and monosodium glutamate in Maggi. Soon news came that they had issued a ban on Maggi.

Later the news came that there was no ban on Maggi and it was just a rumour.

Nestle says Maggi is safe, goverment says NOT

Another report said that Maharashtra FDA has also taken Maggi samples to test.

Although the food and drug administration (FDA) of Uttar Pradesh has claimed that the content of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) in a batch of ready-to-cook Maggi was high, the Maharashtra state unit of the FDA plans to verify the claims, before taking a drastic step such as recalling the product from the market.
“We have collected samples of the product from different parts of the state such as Pune, Nagpur and Mumbai and have sent them to our laboratory for tests. The results will come in a couple of days, after which we will decide if there is a need to take action,” said Dr Harshdeep Kamble, state FDA commissioner.
According to Nestle India, on April 30, the local authorities in Lucknow asked them to recall one batch of Maggi Noodles (around 200,000 packs) which were manufactured in February 2014 and had crossed the expiry date in November 2014.
The company, in a press statement, said, “Nestlé India’s current practice is to collect stock that is near the best before date from distributors/retailers, so we are confident that these packs are no longer in the market. The company does not agree with the order and is filing the requisite representations with the authorities.”

Then came the issue of celebrities who endorsed Maggi earlier being told there will be an FIR against them.

“Any brand ambassador or celebrity endorsing products or services is liable for action if an advertisement is found misleading, the government said on Monday. It said celebrities like Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta are legally responsible, if the advertisements for the popular Maggi noodles were found to be misleading consumers. According to the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) Act, anyone who is a party to a misleading advertisement or its publication can be fined up to Rs 10 lakh. The proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection Act also has provisions to issue direction for discontinuation of such advertisements and even reporting such violations to police or any other law enforcing agency for criminal prosecution,” says a report in the Times of India.

Nestle said that there was some lead in a packet of Maggi that had expiry date of November 2014 and that batch is not in the market anymore.

Is there lead in MAGGI Noodles?

We understand that consumers are concerned by reports that the authorities in India have found elevated levels of lead in a sample pack of MAGGI Masala Noodles. The sample came from a batch that had an expiry date of November 2014 and is therefore no longer in the market. We are fully cooperating with the authorities who are conducting further tests and we are awaiting their results.

Why is there any lead at all in MAGGI Noodles?

Trace amounts of lead are present in the atmosphere and in the soil around the world. There are firm limits prescribed by the authorities to ensure that any lead detected in a finished product is well below the levels that would be unsafe. We regularly monitor all our raw materials for lead, including testing by accredited laboratories. These tests have consistently shown levels in MAGGI Noodles to be within permissible limits. As well as testing both raw materials and finished products for lead we also carry out extensive research and contribute to global efforts to assure safety in this area. We are committed to continuing to improve the quality of agricultural materials across the food chain working with farmers, suppliers, authorities and the rest of the food industry to ensure food safety.

Then the news came from Delhi that on testing there, 10 out of 13 maggi noodles had excessive lead.

NEW DELHI:  Kerala has ordered a pullout of Maggi noodles from government-run outlets and the Delhi government has said samples that it tested were found "unsafe," amid a country-wide scrutiny of the product for high content of lead and monosodium glutamate or MSG, a taste enhancer.

However, Goa's Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has said that the samples it tested were found to be safe for human consumption. It also said that the samples tested negative for Monosodium Glutamate or MSG and lead content.

But the Delhi government said high lead levels were detected in 10 out of 13 packets of Maggi noodles tested from around the National Capital Region. It has decided to initiate a case against the company "for sale of an unsafe product", a statement said, and also that it is considering a fine for "misbranding" as five Maggi noodle samples were found to contain MSG, without no declaration on the label.

"The detailed and final report of the test/analysis is awaited and the government has decided to take further strict action in the case once it is received," an official said.

According to officials, a total of 13 samples of masala (tastemaker) were lifted by authorities from various areas of the city last week out of which 10 samples were found unsafe having lead exceeding the prescribed limits. The prescribed maximum limit of lead is 2.5 ppm.

Five samples of masala were also having monosodium glutamate without proper label declaration which is an offence under the category of misbranding, they said.

The samples were lifted by the Food Safety Officers of the Health department after receiving a communication from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

While the Indian netizens were vociferously arguing that the celebrities had no role in this, news came from Nestle that they conducted more testing of Maggi noodles in an external lab(over 600 packets) and found there was no excess lead.

MAGGI Noodles and lead concerns

 

1 June 2015

Extensive testing reveals no excess lead in MAGGI Noodles

We understand that consumers are concerned by reports that the authorities in Uttar Pradesh have found elevated levels of lead in a sample pack of MAGGI Noodles. We are fully cooperating with the authorities who are conducting further tests and we are awaiting their results.

We have also submitted samples of MAGGI Noodles from almost 600 product batches to an external laboratory for independent analysis and we tested samples from almost 1,000 batches at our accredited laboratory. These samples represent around 125 million [12.5 Crore] packets. All the results of these internal and external tests show that lead levels are well within the limits specified by food regulations and that MAGGI noodles are safe to eat. We are sharing these results with the authorities.

We regularly monitor all our raw material for lead, including testing by accredited laboratories which have consistently shown levels in MAGGI Noodles to be within permissible limits.

In addition, we remain committed to continuing to improve the quality of agricultural raw materials across the food chain working with farmers, suppliers, authorities and the food industry to ensure food safety.

The quality and safety of our products are the top priorities for our Company.

29 May 2015

We understand that consumers are concerned by reports that the authorities have found elevated levels of lead in a sample pack of MAGGI Noodles.

We regularly monitor all our raw material for lead, including testing by accredited laboratories which have consistently shown levels in MAGGI Noodles to be within permissible limits. We are currently conducting further tests on samples of MAGGI Noodles and we understand the authorities are doing the same. We will share our results with authorities and continue to collaborate fully with them to bring this matter to a conclusion.

Consumer Services
Tel: +91(124) 412 12 12

And Kerala government has ordered a recall of Maggi noodles.

State-run retail outlets in Kerala were ordered to withdraw these products and Karnataka and Haryana directed random lifting of this food item for scrutiny.

Kerala Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob's office said an order had been issued to temporarily stop the distribution of Maggi noodles from its retail outlets in the state forthwith till there is clarity on the safety issue.

The probe into alleged lapses of food safety standards has already been expanded to test Maggi noodle samples from across the country following detection of monosodium glutamate and lead in excess of the prescribed limit in the noodles.

However, Nestle India claimed it has got samples tested in an external laboratory as well as in-house and that the product was found "safe to eat".

In Karnataka, Health Minister UT Khader said that officials have been directed to randomly lift the samples of Maggi noodles from the manufacturing units and retail shops, across the state for laboratory testing.

The West Bengal Food department has convened a meeting on Wednesday to take a view on the Maggi row.

Nestle has issued tweets and facebook posts saying maggi is safe. The investigation continues.

In between all this news, there is even news about the MSG or Monosoium glutamate, saying that MSG is not really unsafe anyway.

KOLKATA:  A section of Indian dietitians and nutritionists maintain that there was no scientific evidence to establish adverse health effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the wake of some Maggi noodles samples reportedly found to contain higher-than-permissible levels.
Experts dismissed the concerns as "unfounded" since MSG, they said, is one of the most abundant and naturally-occurring amino acids that are added to foods as a flavor enhancer
"Recent reports of MSG having adverse effects such as headache, flushing and excessive sweating - which are typically associated with Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS) - have not been clinically established," said prominent nutritionist Hena Nafis.