No quick relief for Nestle over lead, MSG in Maggi noodles

Maggi noodles may be doing brisk business, but its manufacturer Nestle India suffered a loss of face in Supreme Court on Thursday after the company was told that despite laboratory tests in its favour, it still had to face the consumer court.

A government complaint has accused the company of misleading consumers on quantities of lead and taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) in its pre-cooked products.

Nestle had challenged the proceedings before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in the SC after the consumer forum sent samples of Maggi noodles for testing at a Chennai laboratory in December 2015. The company claimed that the complaint by the Central Government before the NCDRC was filed on August 11, 2015, two days before the Bombay High Court quashed the Government's ban order on sale of Maggi noodles.

Despite the chequered history of the case, the SC in December 2015 ordered fresh sampling and testing of the product at the most renowned food testing laboratory – Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) at Mysore. The test results arrived in January 2016 favouring Maggi.

It found the lead limits in the noodles within permissible limits of 2.5 ppm as per Food Safety and Standards Regulations. On MSG, the lab said it was not possible to distinguish whether the traces of MSG in noodles is added or naturally present in glutamic acid, used at the production stage. Maggi claimed it had no added MSG in its products.

Finding the report to be in its favour, Nestle's counsels senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Arvind Datar said that the case before the NCDRC can be closed by the Court at this stage. But the bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta was not convinced. It directed the CFTRI report to serve as the basis for NCDRC to proceed with the Government's complaint.

In the process, the Court made a damaging comment against Maggi. Finding even permissible limits of lead to be a problem, the bench said, "Why should you be eating noodles with lead in it. I will be averse to even that."

The genesis of this issue came out of a surprise check by a Food Inspector in Barabanki, UP who sent Maggi samples for testing in a state lab which found presence of MSG in the product. Another referral lab in Kolkata had found lead to be 17 ppm, much in excess of the permissible limit. At the same time, tests in Goa and Kerala found the sample to be within permissible limits.

The Government approached NCDRC against Nestle for gross negligence, apathy, and callousness and sought damages worth Rs 640 crore from the company. It will now be upto the consumer court to examine the CFTRI report and seek explanation from the company based on the complaint made against it.

In A Soup

• Govt accused Nestle of misleading consumers about quantity of MSG and lead
• Jan 2016 test found lead and MSG to be within permissible limits