After Maggi noodles, Nestle's pasta in trouble

Mau, Nov 27: Nestle's pasta is the second product after Maggi noodles to land in trouble after its samples, tested at a Uttar Pradesh laboratory, were found to have lead beyond the permissible limits, a state government official said on Friday.

Pasta samples collected from Nestle distributor Sriji Traders in UP on June 10 were sent to a government laboratory in Lucknow, said Arvind Yadav, designated officer at Food and Drug Administration Mau.

"After Maggi, the sample of macroni pasta was taken from Mau and sent to National Food Analysis Laboratory, Lucknow, in which lead was found to be much more that the permissible limit," he said

"According to report received on September 2, they failed the tests," the officer said.

"The standard limit is 2.5 ppm (parts per million) while it has been found to be 6 ppm. The letter informing the Nestle company sent at its Modinagar address has come back here undelivered," Yadav said. He also showed the undelivered letter to the media.

He said: "On the basis of the report, this food product now comes under the ‘unsafe food category'."

"The report has been sent to the FDA commissioner (Lucknow) on October 12 for sanction to lodge a case and in case it is received, it will be filed in the court of the CJM here," Yadav said.

The official, to questions, said: "It can also lead to banning the product."

"They (Nestle) were sent a letter over a month ago intimating them about the results. They had a month's time to appeal against the test but the letter sent by the FDA was not received by the company and was returned here," Yadav said.

District magistrate Vaibhav Srivasatav said: "The sample which has failed the test is of June and we will taken immediate action on the directives... we are in touch (with the authorities) on phone."

Nestle India said its products are safe for consumption and that it was not aware of any test done on pasta brands by the Uttar Pradesh lab.

"We are not aware of any analysis reports for Pazzta supposedly picked up from Sriji Traders," said a Nestle India spokesperson.

PTI