Headlines
British food authority calls Maggi noodles safe
New Delhi, July 1
Britain's Food Standards
Authority (FSA) on Wednesday announced that Nestle India's Maggi
noodles, manufactured in India and exported to Britain, were safe to
consume and contained lead well within permissible levels.
"The
FSA can confirm that results from testing samples of Maggi noodles in
the UK have all found that levels of lead in the product is well within
European Union (EU) permissible levels and would not be a concern to
consumers," the FSA said on its website.
Britain imports only
masala flavour of these noodles, the food authority said, adding that
the FSA also tested other variants from the Maggi noodles range.
A total of 900 samples were drawn from Nestle as well as the local authorities in Britain and tested.
"Following
an incident in India, where a sample of Maggi noodles was reported to
contain high levels of lead, the FSA made the decision to test a
selection of Maggi noodles as a precaution," the food authority said.
India's
food safety regulator had ordered Nestle to withdraw Maggi noodles
after some samples were found to contain higher-than-permissible levels
of lead -- a finding that was rejected by the company, saying its own
independent tests suggested otherwise.
The company has halted
production of Maggi noodles in its factories in India since June 5 and
decided to withdraw it from the Indian market.
The Bombay High
Court on Tuesday allowed the company to export all varieties of Maggi
noodles from India, though the domestic marketing restrictions would
continue.