Maggi in further soup, retailers take it off shelves

New Delhi, Jun 3: Retail chains led by Future Group and consumer cooperative society Kendriya Bhandar have stopped selling Maggi noodles across their stores in the wake of food safety issues, dealing a further blow to Nestle India.

The move follows country-wide probe against the 'two-minute' instant food brand for alleged presence of lead and taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) beyond permissible limits.

"In the interest of consumer sentiment and concerns, we have taken Maggi noodles off the shelves from all our stores for the time being. We will wait for more clarity from authorities to take any further course of action," a Future Group spokesperson said.

Modern retail outlets like Big Bazaar run by the Future Group contribute a large chunk of sales for FMCG firms, including Nestle.

The Future Group has 570 stores in 243 cities across different formats under brands such as Big Bazaar, Easy day, KB's and Nilgiris.

Likewise, consumer cooperative society Kendriya Bhandar is also withdrawing Maggi noodles from its 130 stores in and outside Delhi.

"We have issued circulars to all store managers to remove Maggi from the shelves since yesterday. The process is under implementation," Kendriya Bhandar Managing Director Jagdeesh Bhatia told PTI.

The order is for all the 130 Kendriya Bhandar grocery and consumer retail stores in and outside Delhi, he said, adding in Delhi alone there were around 100 stores.

A circular to all store incharges of Kendriya Bhandar "instructed to stop sale of Maggi noodles (all variants) and remove concerned stocks from the shelves at the earliest."

It further said: "All the unsold stocks of Maggi (all variants) are to be returned to the concerned consumer godown for further necessary action."

PTI