India’s apex consumer court, which is hearing a lawsuit against Nestle’s Maggi Noodles, has ordered for tests to be conducted on 16 samples of Maggi Noodles, which have been preserved by Nestle India at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) storage in Lucknow in June earlier this year.
The order comes on the behest of government to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). The government had initiated action against Nestlé India on behalf of consumers in the apex consumer court.
On 23 November, it asked for further testing of 31 batches of Maggi at an accredited laboratory to assure complete safety of consuming Maggi Noodles. The samples in question are from the stock that Nestlé India had stored at an FSSAI godown in Lucknow, reports Livemint.
Nestle has, however, opposed the move and has said that it would get on with its usual business after the Bombay high court lifted the ban, and its products were found safe by accredited laboratories, Livemint reported.
A Nestle spokesperson was quoted by Livemint as saying: "We are disappointed that the Hon'ble Commission has today given Order directing further testing of 16 samples. In recent months alone, Nestlé India has conducted over 3,500 tests representing over 200 million packs in both national as well as international accredited laboratories for testing and all reports are clear."
Earlier this year, Maggi noodles were banned by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for having excess lead content in samples collected from the company's storage centers.
The Bombay High Court had lifted the ban ordering fresh tests to be conducted on noodles that would be produced at the company's Indian plants. These samples cleared the tests and Maggi was re-launched in November across the country.
In December, Nestle had recommenced production of Maggi Noodles at all of its facilities in India, in an effort to make up for the lost time that cost the company Rs 4.5bn ($67.4m) when it was banned for five months due to excessive presence of lead in noodle samples.
Nestle had commenced production of the instant noodles at five of its plants in Nanjangud (Karnataka), Moga (Punjab) Bicholim (Goa) and Tahliwal in Himachal Pradesh and Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.
