Maggi ban: HC lifts ban, orders fresh tests within six weeks

The Bombay High Court on Thursday set aside the countrywide ban on nine variants of Nestle’s Maggi instant noodles, saying the national food regulator had acted in an “arbitrary” manner and not followed the “principles of natural justice” while banning the product. The court, however, ordered Nestle India to conduct fresh safety tests on the product before relaunching it. The Indian unit of Nestle had challenged a June 5 order of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and a similar order by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Authority (FDA) directing it to withdraw all variants of the noodles, citing the presence of excessive lead. While setting aside the ban, Justices V M Kanade and B P Colabawalla clarified that Nestle India has to send five samples of the noodles in its possession for fresh tests before bringing it back to the market. The court said it was still concerned about “public health and public interest”. “Even though it is two-minute noodles, it took us a lot of time,” the court said, minutes after setting aside the ban. The tests will be carried out within six weeks at three centres accredited and recognised by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL): Vimta Labs, Hyderabad; Punjab Biotechnology Incubator, Mohali; and CEG Test House and Research Centre Pvt Ltd, Jaipur.   Indian Express