Canada 5th country to find Maggi safe

NEW DELHI: Swiss food giant Nestle on Thursday said its instant noodles Maggi has been cleared by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the company is making logistical arrangements to resume exports. Canada is the fifth country after the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, to say that Maggi is safe for consumption.
“The CFIA’s food safety investigation did not find any health risk associated with the consumption of Maggi brand noodle products sold in Canada.The CFIA takes food safety concerns very seriously. We are continuing to monitor the situation in India and are working with our international regulatory partners. The CFIA will advise the Canadian public should any food safety risk be identified,” said a CFIA statement.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday clarified that the export of Maggi noodles could continue. Nestlé India exports various products, including noodles and coffee, and exports account for 6-7% of domestic sales, said a Nestle India spokesperson.
On Wednesday, UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) had said that the batch of noodles tested in India and found to contain undeclared Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) was not sold in the UK. It also said Nestle had informed the FSA that the only variety of Maggi it imports into UK from India is the “masala flavour”.
“The noodles made for the export market are produced on the same manufacturing lines as those for the Indian market. We use the same recipes and raw materials as we use for domestic markets although Canada requires a different kind of salt to be used. Packaging materials are designed to meet the regulatory requirements of each importing country,” a Nestle India spokesperson said. However, he did not respond to queries on the specifics of the flavours that are exported to Canada from India. Neither did he answer questions on the differences in packaging literature between the variety of Maggi sold here and in other markets.
“Canadian regulations require us to use non-iodized salt,” he said. Apart from India, Nestlé manufactures noodles in several countries including Malaysia, South Africa and Ukraine.