High doses of MSG in Maggi: While govt agency drags its feet, Nestle promises probe

There was an uproar over the past few days about everybody’s favorite snack Maggi being unhealthy with high doses of MSG and lead found in it. Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration officials have now also asked Nestle, the parent company, to withdraw its products from the state, reports Indian Express. While this could be a problem for Nestle, who owns 60 % of the shares in the instant noodle market category, Nestle has written an update on their website promising to probe into the matter. The press release states that the UP government had asked them to withdraw a batch with 200,000 packets from their Lucknow market, because the label read “best before November 2014”. While that batch has been removed, they have also acknowledged that no other such orders have come to their notice. [caption id=“attachment_2257646” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Maggi noodles. IBN live.[/caption] They have make sure to mention that while they do not add MSG in their product, they do add hydolised groundnut protein, onion powder and wheat flour to the masala packet, all of which contain glutamate. “The quality and safety of our products are the top priorities for our Company,” they have said, adding, “We are aware of reports that tests by the local authorities have detected Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in a sample of MAGGI Noodles and that they are continuing their investigation. We have submitted product samples to an independent accredited laboratory and will share the results with the authorities.” However, now that test samples have been sent to laboratories, the original complaint written by a citizen in Nagpur to the local Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stands as it is. According to this Times of India report, the complaint was made a month ago, but since Nestle’s godown wasn’t in the concerned authorities area, the case took a while to be shifted to the rural FDA. “The laboratory report usually takes a fortnight to be completed. The samples are already under process and the reports are expected back in a couple of days,” said MC Pawar, assistant commissioner rural Nagpur FDA. Pawar further said that there was no real reason for any delay and no other details about the name of the laboratory could be revealed as per the rules. The only detail available is that there are a huge number of samples to be tested.