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Packets of Nestle's Maggi instant noodles are seen on display at a
grocery store in Mumbai
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Nestle India said it will destroy instant noodles worth 3.2
billion rupees (US$50 million) following a sales ban imposed by Indian food
safety authorities for unsafe levels of lead.
India's food safety panel
banned the noodles earlier this month after tests conducted across the country
found that Nestle's Maggi noodles contained lead at levels far higher than
legally allowed.
The tests also detected
the chemical flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate, or MSG, which is not
mentioned in the product's list of ingredients.
Nestle insists the
noodles are safe and is challenging the ban in a Mumbai court.
The Indian subsidiary of
the Swiss-based company said in a statement Monday that the company was
collecting stocks of the noodles from shops, factories and distribution centers
and destroying them.
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 in the country.
Paul Bulcke, the Nestle
Global Chief Executive, has said his company did not add MSG to its Maggi
noodles in India. He said the chemical occurs naturally in some of the
ingredients used in making the noodles.
According to Bulcke,
tests conducted by Nestle on Indian-made Maggi noodles show the presence of
lead to be within permissible limits.
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