Maggi ban: Criminal case filed against Nestle India, its 9 directors and brand ambassadors

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In a new development for the troubled Nestle, Mumbai-based NGO Watchdog Foundation on Monday filed a criminal case against the Indian arm of the Swiss multinational giant, Nestle India, and its nine directors over the Maggi noodles issue.

The case, which was filed in Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Andheri in Mumbai, also named Maggi brand ambassadors like Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta in the lawsuit.

Earlier in the day, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has ordered testing of branded noodles, pasta and macaroni made by firms including ITC, GSK Consumer, Ruchi International, Indo Nissin, besides Nestle.

Last week, the FSSAI has ordered recall of all variants of Maggi noodles from the Indian market, terming them “unsafe and hazardous for human consumption”.

Following the FSSAI direction, many Indian states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Goa have banned Maggi noodles amid mounting food safety concerns and several laboratory tests reporting excessive lead in it.

Clamping down further on Nestle, the government has dragged the Maggi issue to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) for “unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements” and may seek financial penalties among other actions.