Gujarat bans sale of Maggi for a month

Gandhinagar: Gujarat Government today banned the sale of Nestle's instant noodle brand 'Maggi' for a month in the state after the product failed the food safety test.

The government has also asked the company to withdraw all its stock of Maggi from the state.

Apart from Maggi, the state government also tested one sample each of instant noodles of Sunfeast and S K Foods and has banned the latter for a month as high lead content of 4 PPM was found in it.

"Twenty seven samples collected from different parts of the state were tested by Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration. The test has shown that lead was present above the prescribed limit while Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) was also present," Gujarat Health Minister Nitin Patel said.

Of the 27 samples, lead content in 14 of them was found to be 2.8 PPM to 5 PPM (particle per million), which is above the prescribed limit of 2.5 PPM. Presence of excess lead is harmful for health, he said.

"Monosodium glutamate, which should not be present in the product, was found in all the samples tested. For these reasons, the government has banned the sale and distribution of Maggi noodles for one month in the state. The government has also informed Nestle to withdraw all its Maggi stock from Gujarat," Patel said.

The minister also appealed to retailers not to sell Maggi and also asked consumers not to consume it.

He said the health department will conduct inspections across the state to enforce the ban and action will be taken against those selling the product in any part of the state.

Gujarat is a third state to ban Maggi after Delhi and Uttarakhand. It has also banned noodle products of S K Foods.

"Sample of Sunfeast passed the lead test, but traces of monosodium glutamate was found in it. We will test more samples of Sunfeast before taking any action on its instant noodle," he said.

S K Foods sells its noodles under brand 'Loeng', while ITC Sunfeast does it under 'YiPPee'.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has also tested Maggi samples collected from different states in the wake of Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) finding MSG and lead in excess of the prescribed limits in the popular snack.

Last week, a case was lodged against Nestle India by UP FSDA in a local court at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh over safety standards of its Maggi.

Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta were also separately dragged to court for promoting the 'two-minute' noodles brand.

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