BackMaggi pasta gets lead alert in Uttar Pradesh
The standard limit is 2.5 ppm (parts per million), while the samples contained 6 ppm of lead, says UP Food and Drug Administration
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New Delhi: Nestle India is in trouble again. This time, it is Maggi Pazzta—a pasta brand from Nestle India.
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Uttar Pradesh has said that tests have shown the presence of lead beyond permissible limits in samples of Nestle’s pasta.
A report in the Press Trust of India (PTI) said UP FDA (in Mau) had collected samples of Nestle’s pasta from Sriji Traders, a distributor of the Swiss packaged food firm, in UP on 10 June and the samples were tested at the government laboratory.
“After Maggi, the sample of macaroni pasta was taken from Mau and sent to National Food Analysis Laboratory, Lucknow, in which lead was found to be much more than the permissible limit... According to the report received on 2 September, they failed the tests," PTI quoted Arvind Yadav, designated officer at FDA, Mau.
According to the report, the standard limit is 2.5 ppm (parts per million), while the samples contained 6 ppm of lead.
In response, a Nestle India spokesperson said, “Maggi Pazzta is 100% safe. The finished product and the raw materials used to make it undergo rigorous testing during every stage of the manufacturing process. We have seen media reports claiming that lead has been found in the product and we are investigating. We have not received any formal notification from the authorities in UP or from the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) about such test results.We regret the confusion these media reports might be causing. Our products are 100% safe to consume. We will work with authorities to resolve the situation as quickly as possible."
Yadav, however, said the authority has sent the report to FDA commissioner (Lucknow) on 12 October seeking permission to lodge a case against Nestle India, and it will file a legal complaint once it gets the commissioner’s nod.
Nestle India’s Maggi noodles was facing a nationwide ban since 5 June after the country’s food regulator, FSSAI, had asked Nestlé India to immediately withdraw all nine variants of its Maggi noodles, calling them “unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption.
It relaunched the product on 9 November after fresh rounds of tests at government prescribed laboratories, as mandated by the Bombay high court, that showed Maggi noodles safe for consumption.
PTI contributed to this story.
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