Nestle lashes out at food regulators, claims Maggi Pazzta is 100% safe

NEW DELHI: Swiss food major Nestle lashed out at food regulators on Saturday after a government food-testing laboratory in Lucknow allegedly found lead beyond permissible limits in its pasta products.
"The laboratory is not NABL accredited nor is notified by FSSAI. The results of the laboratories which are not accredited cannot be relied upon. Maggi Pazzta is 100% safe. We will work with the authorities to resolve the situation as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement.

Nestle is no stranger to controversies on food safety. It brought back its Maggi noodles earlier this month after a country-wide ban on nine varieties of the product. In June, the country's apex food regulator FSSAI banned the noodles after it allegedly found lead in Maggi samples. The Bombay high court later lifted the ban and allowed Nestle to bring back the product only after it met certain conditions.

On the current pasta issue, Nestle India said: "We have seen media reports claiming that lead has been found in the product and we are investigating these claims. We have not received any formal notification from the authorities in UP or from the FSSAI about such test results. The media reports also mention that the tests have been conducted at National Foods Analysis Laboratory, Lucknow."

Earlier this month, Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Atta Noodles also ran into a roadblock after FSSAI announced that the company didn't have approval to launch the product in the market. Ramdev hit back saying the FSSAI does not have the necessary framework in place to give product approvals because both the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court had quashed it. A Patanjali spokesperson had said the company has a relabeling license from FSSAI and noodles fall into the pasta category according to the regulator, which allows it to launch the product across the country.