Mumbai High Court lifts ban on Nestle noodles and orders more tests
New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) – The ban on Nestle India's Maggi instant noodles – one of India's most popular foods – has been lifted and new toxicology tests have been ordered by the Mumbai High Court in a ruling that overturns the previous June 5th decision issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) . According to the judges Colabawalla and Kanade, the FSSAI acted "arbitrarily" by banning nine variations of the product and ordered the government to repeat theappropriate test.
Meanwhile, yesterday the Government of India has demanded $ 100 million in compensation from the food giant for "unfair trade practices".
"Principles of natural justice were not followed while passing the ban order,” observed the court. The HC has directed the FSSAI to test five samples of the product in three labs accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). The results should be presented within six weeks. If the tests will prove that the lead content in food is within the permissible limits, Nestle India will resume production.
In late May, in Uttar Pradesh, some health inspectors found high levels of lead in dozens of packages of the famous instant noodles. Their inspection also revealed traces of nitric glutamate (a flavor enhancer), whose presence was not, however, indicated in the list ingredients. Hence the Fssaidecision to order the withdrawal of the product. Nestlé denies these allegations, and the High Court in Mumbai reported they had not received any notification of the ban, before it was enacted.
Yesterday the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that tests on Maggi noodles sold in the US have not detected dangerous levels of lead. Inspection bodies in Singapore, Canada and the United Kingdom have ruled that the instant noodles made in India are safe.
The samples tested in Singapore and the U.K. may not relate to the same batches tested in India, according to Robert Waldschmidt, an analyst at Liberum Capital in London. Lead contamination could arise due to pollution, which is prevalent in India, though the differing opinions of regulators raises the question if the Indian authorities weren’t operating partly for political reasons, Waldschmidt said. “I’m not saying there wasn’t any contamination, but it feels to me like it was blown out of proportion, perhaps to make a point,” he said.
India approved retail by large foreign supermarket chains only in recent years, after a hotly contested economic reform (September 2012). On that occasion, the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP, the Hindu nationalist party then in opposition - ed] led a fierce protest against the introduction of foreign goods onto the Indian market.
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