New Delhi: Coming down heavily on Swiss giant Nestle, the central food safety regulator FSSAI today ordered recall of all nine approved variants of Maggi instant noodles from the market, terming them “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) also said Nestle launched ‘Maggi Oats Masala Noodles’ without approval and ordered its recall, saying the company did not undertake risk and safety assessment for the product.
“Withdraw and recall all the nine approved variants of its Maggi Instant Noodles from the market having been found unsafe and hazardous for human consumption, and stop further production, processing, import, distribution and sale of the said product with immediate effect,” the FSSAI order said.
FSSAI also said that Nestle violated labelling regulations on taste enhancer ‘MSG’ and ordered company to submit compliance report on its orders within three days.
“Withdraw and recall the food product, ‘Maggie Oats Masala Noodles with Tastemaker’ for which risk safety assessment has not been undertaken and product approval has not been granted,” the order said.
In the wake of ongoing row over Maggi noodles in India, Global CEO of Nestle Paul Bulcke today said the two-minute noodles are safe for consumption and it was withdrawn from market due to confusion as consumer trust was shaken.
”We do not add MSG in Maggi noodles and will remove ‘No MSG’ from product label. Quality of product is our foremost priority,” Bulcke said while addressing a press conference.
”Our priority is to clarify on safety of product to authorities and we will be back on shelves as soon as possible,” the Nestle Global CEO said adding that no lead found in 1,000 Maggi batches tested internally.
