Uttarakhand, Delhi, Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir, banned sales of Maggi

Uttarakhand has banned Maggi noodles for 90 days, while Delhi on Wednesday slapped a 15-day ban. The states of Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir have also banned sales of Maggi.

Uttar Pradesh authorities ordered a recall of the entire batch, but Nestlé said the packets had been manufactured in February 2014, were past their “best before” date, and were no longer available in the market.

Nestlé has repeatedly insisted that its noodles are safe, saying it had sent 600 Maggi noodle samples to an independent laboratory which had found lead levels to be within the permissible limits.

Some other states have, meanwhile, given Nestle’s products a clean bill of health, creating confusion among consumers about whether it is safe to eat a brand that accounts for a fifth of its local revenues.High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article.Satyendra Jain, New Delhi’s health minister, said Maggi noodles could potentially be sold again after 15 days, but only after all the old stock was removed — and the new batches were thoroughly tested. The ban affects a population of about 17m people.

FSSAI’s Malik, however, said there was no immediate plan to impose a nationwide ban as test reports are still awaited from several states. More results are expected by Monday.In an advisory on May 25, the FSSAI asked all states to run checks on samples of Maggi noodles and submit results by June 1.

Future Group, one of India’s largest retailers — which has about 400 hypermarkets and convenience stores — said on Wednesday it had decided to pull the noodles from its shelves, given the uncertainty surrounding the product.“In the interest of consumer sentiment and concerns, we have taken Maggi noodles off the shelves from all our stores for the time being,” Future Group said. “We will wait for more clarity from authorities to take any further course of action.”

“We all know what happened in the case of Maggi and it is mainly consumed by children. I am of the view that baby food products like Nestle’s Cerelac and Nestum; Johnson and Johnson’s baby soap and oil; and other companies’ products also should not be sold at chemist shops,” Ahir said, adding he is planning to bring a proposal in this regard.The minister said that only pharmaceutical products should be allowed to be sold at chemist shops and such as nutrient supplements used for body building should not be allowed to be sold at chemist shops.

Many states have banned Maggi after FSSAI termed them as unsafe and hazardous for human consumption after tests found presence of lead and monosodium glutamate beyond permissible limits.