Nestle Denies Batch Recall, Says Maggi Samples are Sent for Independent Testing

Nestle India Ltd has issued a denial that food inspectors in Uttar Pradesh have ordered the company to recall packets of Maggi noodles due to excess content of lead.(Excess Lead Found, Food Inspectors Order Recall of Maggi Noodles)Nestle, in a press statement has said that it has submitted samples to an an independent laboratory and will provide those results to officials. The company also clarified that the batch of 200,000 packets of noodles it was being asked to recall was manufactured last year in February and that they weren’t fit for consumption anyway after November, 2014.
It said it collects stock nearing best-before dates from distributors and retailers and was confident products from that batch were no longer in market. Nestle India also said it had not received any other order to recall noodles currently being sold.Shortly after food inspectors ordered the recall of batch of Maggie noodles across Uttar Pradesh, other states like Maharashtra and Gujarat have also issued a notice to get Maggi noodle samples tested in their respective states and are awaiting results by next week.Samples have been collected from Nagpur and Mumbai by the Maharashtra food and drug administration. The food authority has said that as of now they do not have a standardized test that can identify or differentiate synthetic MSG.“I have ordered the test in private lab as well so that there is clear cut distinction between MSG and Glutamic acid so we get a separate report for both, ” said Harshdeep Kamble, Commissioner, FDA, Maharashtra.“We have been contacted by FDA and we are trying to find out a singular method that tests MSG as MSG to confirm that it has been artificially added because glutamic acid can be naturally present,” Dr. Deepa Bhajekar of the Petrochem Lab told NDTV.Will it be banned? The food authorities have said that if they find MSG then they will recall the batch. They have not decided to ban the product yet.(Maggi Noodles Found with Excess Lead: Doctors Respond)Food Safety And Drug Administration (FSDA) Lucknow collected a few samples and sent them to Kolkata for testing. The report found the samples to contain Monosodium glutamate (MSG) beyond permissible limit. The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) in Uttar Pradesh said high lead content was found during routine tests on two dozen packets of instant noodles, manufactured by Nestle in India(In a Soup Again! The Story Behind MSG)Nestle India, a subsidiary of Swiss-based Nestle SA, issued a statement saying that it ensures strict safety and quality controls in place for all raw materials used to make Maggi noodles.(No MSG in Maggi Noodles, Says Nestle, as States Reportedly Ask for Tests)"We do not add MSG to Maggi Noodles, and glutamate, if present, may come from naturally occurring sources. We are surprised with the content supposedly found in the sample as we monitor the lead content regularly as a part of the regulatory requirements," it said.