Nestlé India announced its popular MAGGI Noodles are back on shelves, five months after India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority found lead levels in the instant noodles exceeded permissible limits.
The company said Monday samples of the noodles sent to labs for mandatory testing were deemed safe and the labs cleared the products for consumption.
“MAGGI Noodles has very special relationships and strong emotional bonds with its consumers across the country and I am confident that our bonds will grow even stronger,” says Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director of Nestlé India. “On behalf of over 7000 Nestlé India employees, I would like to thank all our suppliers, distributors, retailers, and millions of consumers from every corner of India and overseas for their support, love, reassurance and for being there during our difficult period.”
The company says most states in India do not have a ban on the noodles, but Nestlé is engaging with states where specific directions are required.
MAGGI Noodles are currently being manufactured at three locations: Nanjangud (Karnataka), Moga (Punjab) and Bicholim (Goa). For the other two locations at Tahliwal and Pantnagar, Nestlé says it is speaking with authorities to lift the manufacturing ban.
In June, the company destroyed about $50 million MAGGI Noodle products it removed from store shelves. Indian Authorities banned the noodles in June after tests from around the country found levels of lead in the products higher than legal limits, leading to authorities branding the noodles “unsafe and hazardous.” In response to the lead concerns, Nestlé challenged the accuracy of the tests. The company says it conducted tests on more than 1000 batches of noodles in its labs and an additional 600 in external laboratories. Their results indicated the noodles were safe and within regulatory limits for the country.