In soup over the presence monosodium glutamate and lead in excess of the prescribed limit, the two-minute snacks —Maggi noodles — has also come under lens in Punjab. The State on Wednesday ordered its quality testing.
Punjab’s move, following the allegations of lapses in food safety standards, came a day after the neighbouring Haryana ordered lab testing of the maggi samples across the State.
“We have taken almost 60 samples of Maggi noodles collected from various parts of the State for laboratory testing,” said State Heath and Family Welfare Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani.
He said the samples had been sent for testing in a Government laboratory in Amritsar.
“We will soon receive the report of the samples,” he said. At the same time, he made it clear that in case of any lapse, as per the food safety standards, “appropriate action will be taken in this regard”.
Jayani said that a probe was being conducted by various States into the alleged lapses in food safety standards in popular instant food.
State Health Secretary Husan lal said that on the directions of Health Minister, samples of Maggi noodles from 14 places had been collected, and these had been sent to the laboratories for testing.
The samples have also been taken from Nestle’s plant in Moga, and these would also be sent to the premier lab at Kolkatta for testing, besides testing these in the State.
The Minister added that the State Government would not only check the Maggi noodles, but other products would also be tested for quality check so that people’s health would not be risked.
Haryana lifts samples
Meanwhile, Haryana Food and Drug Administration Department on Wednesday started lifting samples of Maggi noodles randomly from across the State for laboratory testing amid row over alleged lapses in its food safety standards.
Following the directions of Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, Haryana Food and Drug Administration Department collected samples from various districts of the state.
A spokesman of the Department said that Haryana Health Minister had asked for strict and quick action in this matter, based on which raid campaign was conducted in all districts of the state. Faridabad, Palwal, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, among other districts have been raided and samples of Maggi noodles were collected.
These samples had been brought to a laboratory in Chandigarh for testing so that the presence of alleged harmful substance in Maggi could be detected, said the spokesperson.
After the raid, Health Minister said that directions had been issued to get the sample of Maggi noodles tested in laboratory and appropriate action would be taken if presence of any harmful substance was found in Maggi products.
A day before, Anil Vij taking a serious note of reports of alleged lapses of food safety standards in Maggi noodles, had ordered testing of samples of the food product.
Vij had directed the Director General Health Services (DGHS) to get the samples of Maggi noodles tested from all districts. The DGHS had also been directed to take immediate steps on this issue through Civil Surgeons in all districts.