In what may come as somewhat of a vindication for Nestle India that had earlier in the day withdrawn temporarily its popular brand of noodles off the shelves in the country amid “unfounded concerns”, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that nine Maggi noodles samples that it tested were found to contain lead within permissible limit of 2.5 ppm.
“We just received test reports of nine Maggi samples that we had sent to laboratory for analysis. We found that the lead content in them is less than permissible limit of 2.5 ppm,” FDA Commissioner Harshadeep Kamble said.
Kamble said that of the nine Maggi samples sent for analysis, four each were taken the outlets from Mumbai and Thane, while one sample had been taken from a retail outlet in Sangli in western Maharashtra. The tests showed the presence of lead content ranging from .04 to 1.48 parts per million (ppm). “The permissible limit for lead content is 2.5 ppm,” Kamble said.
Kamble’s confirmation about the State FDA having lead content in Maggi samples taken from three cities in Maharashtra came hours after Nestle India announced its decision to “withdraw the product off the shelves, despite the product being safe”.
Nestle India had stated: “Maggi Noodles are completely safe and have been trusted in India for over 30 years. “The trust of our consumers and the safety of our products is our first priority. Unfortunately, recent developments and unfounded concerns about the product have led to an environment of confusion to such an extent that we have decided to withdraw the product off the shelves, despite the product being safe... We promise that the trusted Maggi Noodles will be back as soon as the current situation is clarified,” Nestle India added.