NEW DELHI // Maggi noodles were back on shelves in India on Monday, after the government banned them over lead levels, in one of the biggest crises to hit the Swiss giant.
India’s food safety watchdog banned the noodles nationwide in June after test results showed packets exceeded legal limits of lead, while criticising Nestle for failing to list flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) on labels.
But the Bombay high court, the highest court in the western city now known as Mumbai, overturned the ruling two months later, calling it “arbitrary” and ordered fresh tests.
The Indian unit of Swiss food company Nestle said on Monday that new samples of Maggi instant noodles had been cleared for consumption by three food-testing laboratories in India.
“The roll out has begun today. It has been a challenging period for the Nestle Organisation, and therefore, there is a feeling of satisfaction at bringing back Maggi noodles to the market,” Nestle India said.
Maggi noodles would not be available in eight states that had banned their sale. The company said it was in talks with local governments to lift the ban.
Nestle lost more than 75 million Swiss francs (Dh274.6m) over the ban, which forced it to destroy more than 37,000 tonnes of the noodles, India’s leading brand.
“What we have been through has been like a life crisis for a human being,” Nestle India managing director Suresh Narayanan said on Monday.
“It will need investments to nurture back the brand into the health that it was,” he said of Maggi, which previously accounted for about 30 per cent of the company’s Indian sales.
Maggi noodles are a hugely popular snack among school and college students and young working people in India. The company introduced the quick cooking noodles to India in the early 1980s and they can be found in the remotest villages.
Maggi’s return comes as Indians prepare to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali, a time when food shopping is at its peak.
Fans of the brand, which had 80 per cent of India’s instant noodle market before the crisis, reacted with delight on Twitter.
Sony Das posted: “What better way to celebrate this Diwali.. #WelcomeBackMAGGI wid Maggi our lost appetites are also back.. Luv U Maggi”.
The noodles will initially return in 100 cities compared with more than 400 previously and in just one flavour, Masala.
Nestle’s Mr Narayanan on Monday questioned the accuracy of the initial laboratory tests, saying India’s regime for heavy metal testing in food was “unreliable” and called for an overhaul.
He left open the question of whether Nestle would take legal action against the food safety regulator, saying the company had simply been “focused” on getting the product back on shelves.
Nestle has always maintained the product was safe to eat, and has continued to sell it in other countries.
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse