Amid a raging controversy over Maggi noodles, Nestle India on Thursday moved the Bombay High Court seeking a judicial review and revocation of the orders of food safety regulators banning Maggi in Maharashtra.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) passed an order on June 5 terming Maggi noodles “unsafe and hazardous for human consumption”.
Following this, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra passed an order on June 6 banning Maggi after some samples were found to contain lead above the permissible limit.
Appealing that the orders be quashed and set aside, the petition filed by Nestle India said, “The impugned orders have been passed by respondents [regulators] without authority and without following the due process of law. The orders are illegal, arbitrary and violative of the principles of natural justice.”
A Division Bench of Justices V.M. Kanade and B.P. Colabawalla will hear the petition on Friday.
The company alleged that the orders did not comply with the mandatory provisions of Section 34 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which required the designated officer to first apply to the Commissioner of Food Safety to impose a prohibition order.
Further, the authorities had not conducted a detailed risk analysis before declaring the products unsafe. “Mere conduct of tests is not sufficient to come to a conclusion that a health risk exists,” the company said.
Contesting the presence of MSG (monosodium glutamate) and lead in excess, the petition said such a conclusion was “misleading”. Nestle India “did not add any MSG in the process of production. MSG, if any, found in the final product or the tastemaker are purely on account of MSG being found naturally in some of the ingredients used in the tastemaker,” the petition said.
A look at the recent developments:
| » | In April, the food regulator of Uttar Pradesh, UP FDA had ordered recall of a batch of about 2 lakh packs of the Maggi instant noodles due to higher than permitted levels of lead and food additives. |
| » | No. States conducting tests: 09; No. of States that have banned: 11 |
| » | On May 29, taking a “serious” note of quality issues related to global giant Nestle’s famous noodle brand Maggi, the government asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to look into the matter. The FSSAI has collected more samples of Maggi from different states for testing. |
| » | Meanwhile, Hindi actors Madhuri Dixit, Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta, who endorse Maggi were served legal notice on the claims made in the advertisement. A complaint was filed in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Barabanki, on May 30, by lawyer Santosh Kumar Singh, saying that by endorsing Maggi the film stars have misled people. The Consumer Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary G Gurucharan says "brand ambassadors would be liable for action if advertisements are found to be misleading.” |
| » | On May 30, Madhuri Dixit tweeted that she met officials of Nestle and the company has reassured that "they adhere to stringent testing for quality and safety and are working with the authorities closely.” |
| » | The same day, the Food Safety and Drug Administration of the U.P. government filed a case against the manufacturing company, Nestle India Ltd., and five others, including the Barabanki store from where samples with excess lead were seized. |
| » | The Uttarakhand Food Safety Department too collected samples of the noodle brand from the company’s plant at Pantnagar in the State. Confirming the presence of MSG, the state banned Maggi. |
| » | Nestle India said it has got tested samples of the noodle brand in an external laboratory as well as in-house and the product has been found “safe to eat” with lead levels within the permissible levels for consumption. The company was, however, silent on presence of the taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG). |
| » | Nestle India's stocks continued to slumpamid growing concerns about safety standards of its popular Maggi noodles. In a BSE filing, the company said it has not received any order from the central or any state FDA authority for recall of its Maggi noodles. |
| » | State-owned retail outlets in Kerala and Delhi have banned the sale of Maggi. Leading retail chain Big Bazaar has also reportedly taken them off from its shelves. |
| » | Army has issued advisory to its personnel asking them not to eat Maggi noodles and directed its canteens not to sell them till further orders. |
| » | Nestle on June 5, said it is withdrawing the product from Indian market due to “unfounded confusions” that has affected the consumer trust, but maintained that its noodles are safe for consumption and has no presence of MSG. |
| » | Singapore and Nepal have ordered local importers to temporarily suspend of the sale of Nestle’s Maggi noodles imported from India. |
| » | Maharashtra Food and Drug Minister Girish Bapat has announced a ban on the sale of Maggi with effect from on Saturday after lab tests proved presence of lead above the permissible level in the samples tested. |
| » | A day after banning Maggi noodles, food safety regulator FSSAI on Saturday said it will test samples of instant noodles across brands to ensure food safety. |
| » | On Sunday, Karnataka government banned the manufacture and sale of maggi noodles and Goa also followed suit by banning the product. |
States that have banned the 'two-minute' noodles:
A PTI version of this copy can be read >here
Published - June 11, 2015 01:47 pm IST
