Punjab bans manufacture of Maggi in Nestle plant for a year

Chandigarh, June 6: In a major setback to Nestle India, the Punjab government on Saturday restrained the company from manufacturing all nine approved variants of Maggi noodles at its plant in Moga town for a year.

The Punjab government issued orders to Nestle prohibiting manufacture, distribution and sale of all nine variants of Maggi from the plant with immediate effect, an official statement said here.

Sale of these products has been prohibited in the state for a year.

The company has also been directed to immediately withdraw and recall all nine variants of Maggi from the market.

The order was issued by Hussan Lal, state commissioner for food safety.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Surjit K. Jyani said in a statement that the step was taken in view of the health of the people of the state.

The minister said food safety officers from Moga, Kapurthala, Mohali and Sangrur districts drew samples of Maggi from across the state and sent them to the state food and drug laboratory in Chandigarh for analysis.

As per the analysis report, the presence of lead was found within the permissible limit.

But monosodium glutamate (MSD) was confirmed in the samples, whereas the name of the salt has not been labelled.

The government statement said that the quote "No MSG added" declared on the product label was a violation of the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations of 2011.

Nestle's Moga unit is one of the company's oldest and the largest plant among the eight manufacturing plants in India.

IANS