Nestle’s Maggi Pazzta Ban
Within days of Nestle relaunching its Maggi noodles on November 9, 2015, after it was taken off the shelves by the ban imposed by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) in June, fresh troubles have brewed up for Nestle over its pasta products.
A state-owned food testing laboratory in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India has found that Nestle’s Maggi Pazzta samples contain lead beyond the permissible limit. While the permissible standard limit for lead is 2.5 PPM (parts per million) the lead content as reported in news reports in the tested sample was found to be 6 PPM, which puts Maggi Pazzta into the “unsafe food category”.
Nestle’s Maggi Pazzta samples were collected earlier this year in June from a Nestle distributor, Sriji Traders, in Mau, Uttar Pradesh, and were sent to the National Food Analysis Laboratory in Lucknow. According to the report received earlier this year in September, the said samples have failed the tests.
While Nestle has denied having received any official notification from the authorities in Uttar Pradesh, the officials assert that a letter informing Nestle of the discrepancy in their product was dispatched and was returned back undelivered. As of now, the aforesaid report has been sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner (Lucknow) for sanction to file a case in this matter with the appropriate court of authority which may lead to Nestle facing a ban on one more of its products.