Maharashtra FDA finds 'misbranding' of noodles, pasta even as Nestlé says Maggi is safe

The row over noodles with respect to food safety might have just re-emerged in India. The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted laboratory tests on 27 samples of pasta and noodles variants of several brands, and found that at least 25 of them contained monosodium glutamate (MSG), even though the labels of the packages said, ‘No Added MSG’, reported Indian Express. [caption id=“attachment_2500766” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “None of the samples have lead beyond permissible limits. But there were other contraventions. Certain quantities in a few samples were beyond what was mentioned on the label of the package,” the report quoted G Parlikar, assistant food commissioner, FDA, as saying. He also said that the ash value in the samples exceeded the figure printed on the labels. This revelation by the Maharashtra FDA comes after Nestlé India on Wednesday had said that Maggi noodles has cleared the tests ordered by the Bombay High Court at three accredited laboratories and that the effort will now be on to re-launch the popular snack within this month. “We have received the results from all the three NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing Calibration Laboratories) mandated by the Bombay High Court to test newly-manufactured Maggi noodles samples,” the company had said in a regulatory filing with stock exchanges. “All the samples of the Maggi noodles masala have been cleared with lead much below permissible limits,” the statement had said, adding this has validated their stand, maintained all along, that the noodles were and continue to be safe. With inputs from IANS