Even as Uttar Pradesh government has launched a statewide special drive to raid the stores selling Maggi noodles of old batch it is yet to take a final call whether to ban sale of this noodle in state or not. Officials of the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) confirmed that raids were being conducted in different parts of the state to seize Maggi noodles. The samples of Maggi and other instant noodles were being sent to the lab for test, a senior official told The Pioneer here on Sunday.
Despite it being Sunday, Food Inspectors carried out raids in Moradabad, Gonda, Kannauj, Jaulan and Meerut. “We are waiting for the final report from the lab. Then only we can take a call whether sale of Maggi should be banned in Uttar Pradesh,” the official said. He said the authorities were seizing the noodles of 2014 make, which is said to be have excessive lead contents. Many prominent social organisations are protesting against the adulterated Maggi noodles and are demanding its total ban. “We cannot play with the future of the children. If the lab results show magi contains high degree of lead or other carcinogenic matters it should be banned immediately,” Shishu Pal Yadav, convener of Prasar, an NGO that works in the health sector told The Pioneer.
On the other hand traders organizations have criticized the state government for harassing the small shopkeepers. President of the Uttar Pradesh Adarsh Vyapar Mandal Sanjay Gupta said that police should not lodge complaint against shopkeepers selling the product. “It is a sealed product manufactured by an international company. The shopkeeper is in no way responsible for adulteration in noodle. Gupta said that while the government was lenient towards the Nestle Company which is manufacturer of the product and distributes Maggi noodles through different outlets the authorities were harassing the small shopkeepers.
UP FSDA has also recommended for lodging of case against Nestle company in connection with contaminated Maggi noodles. Recently, the FSDA of Uttar Pradesh had confirmed presence of lead and mono sodium glutamate (MSG) beyond permissible limit in samples of Maggi, seized from a store in Barabanki. Since then, three state governments - Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have also said they will test samples too. The Centre has said Food Safety and & Standards Authority of India will look into the matter. High level of lead in food is known to be harmful, MSG is a flavour enhancer commonly added to Chinese food. To most Indians, it is known as Ajinomoto, because of the Japanese company of the same name that has been manufacturing it for over 100 years.