SC to hear Nestle's plea to destroy 550 tonnes of Maggi today

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Friday hear the Maggi noodles matter on the application of Nestle India Ltd, who had approached it seeking 550 tonnes of seized expired stock be handed over to them by the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) so that the stock can be destroyed.

The FSSAI stated that adherence to this request might lead to destruction of evidence, to which the court replied that some samples may be retained for reference by the FSSAI. The FSSAI is supposed to respond to this request by Nestle in the next hearing. The company said that pursuant to withdrawal announcement and ban order on June 5, 2015, Nestle India Ltd had recalled stocks of Maggi Noodles and till September 1, 2015 destroyed around 38,000 tonnes of Maggi Noodles.

The firm said it had 490 tonnes of stock pending destruction and 60 tonnes was received from the market. Hence, 550 tonnes of stock stored in 39 locations across the country needed to be destroyed. On April 5, a Mysore-based government laboratory had given its test report on Maggi noodles in a sealed cover to the apex court.

On January 13, the top court had asked the Mysore lab to clarify whether test reports relating to lead and glutamic acid in Maggi noodles were within permissible parameters under the law. The Consumer Commission had on December 10 last year sent 16 more samples of Maggi noodles for testing in the Chennai lab to ascertain the quantity of lead and MSG in them in connection with the government`s Rs 640 crore suit against the company for alleged unfair trade practices.

The court had on December 16 last year ordered testing of samples of Maggi noodles in the Mysore laboratory after the (NCDRC) had directed that it be done in Chennai.The apex court had stayed the proceedings before the NCDRC and directed that the test reports, including the earlier one, be placed before it.