News Maggi banned due to high quantities of MSG and lead. Update - Ban Lifted

[NinadG]

Maggi to lose $200 mn in brand value

Maggi is set to lose $200 million in brand value after Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ordered manufacturer Nestlé recall all its variants, according to Brand Finance, an independent asset valuation consultancy.

According to Brand Finance, the Maggi brand was valued at $2.4 billion before the recall. The noodles brand was ranked by Brand Finance as the 23rd most valuable food brand in the world.

The consultancy calculated the $50-million loss of goods combined with a damaged brand resulted in a reduced Maggi brand value of $2.2 billion.

“Any health concerns raised by a credible source such as FSSAI will most certainly damage a food brand. Nestlé will have to ensure the Maggi brand can retain its dominance in the Indian market.

"If not, the Nestlé brand itself could be at risk,” Brand Finance CEO David Haigh said in a statement.


Read more at: Maggi to lose $200 mn in brand value - Rediff.com Business

 

[NinadG]

Court allows Nestle to export Maggi though ban continues in India

The Bombay HC today allowed Nestle to export Maggi noodles after FSSAI said it had no objection to the company selling the product abroad though it stood by its decision to ban nine variants of the food snack in the country for being hazardous to public health.

Nestle's counsel Iqbal Chhagla said by the end of the month, the company would destroy 17,000 crore packets of Maggi. Of these, 11,000 crore packets are being recalled from the market, he said.

Advocate Sumedha Rao intervened in the matter, saying that Nestle India should come out with adequate funding to provide protection to consumers.

Meanwhile, FSSAI and other respondents filed affidavits to oppose Nestle's petition seeking relief from the ban of Maggi products.
The court was of the view that Maggi products had already been withdrawn by the company from the shops and hence, there was no need to grant a stay on the ban.

FSSAI contended that the ‘present situation has arisen only because the company has failed to adhere to its own declared policy and principles’.

"The widespread presence of lead, a known poison, in its products can only be presumed to be intentional. It is impossible that such high levels of lead can escape the scrutiny of a reasonably well-equipped laboratory," FSSAI argued.

"The fact that the petitioners have refrained from filing chart summary test reports and results conducted on Maggi since October 2014 can only create suspicion," it said.

FSSAI said that since Nestle had agreed to remove the 'No Added MSG' label, ‘raising this issue again in court only goes to show that it does not intend to stick to its stand’.

FSSAI argued that Nestle's claim of its private lab tests proving safety of Maggi, can be legally challenged only in a suit and not in a writ petition, in any case.


Read more at: Court allows Nestle to export Maggi though ban continues in India - Rediff.com Business

 

[IndianMascot]

In that case it would be getting exported to smaller countries.

 

[Technoglitch]

The UK food regulator, which tested samples of the Indian-made instant noodles following the controversy in India, said a range of Maggi noodles tested by it were found to have permissible levels of lead.
Maggi noodles, manufactured by Nestle India Ltd, were wtihdrawn from shops in India and ordered incinerated after Indian tests found monosodium glutamate (MSG) as well as higher-than-permissible levels of lead.
Nestle sells only the “masala flavour” Maggi in the UK. However, the FSA tested not only the “masala flavour”, but also others from the Maggi noodles range as a precaution, the regulator said on its website.

Maggi noodles are safe: UK agency - Livemint

 

[IndianMascot]

So as per UK, Indian reports are fake.

 

[Technoglitch]

NinadG told earlier that these exports are carefully manufactured to pass their standards so it has to do with the manufacturing localities,

 

[NinadG]

So as per UK, Indian reports are fake.

Do you mean to say that UK agencies follow Indian safety or regulatory standards....

 

[IndianMascot]

They must be more strict and if their test is showing good results then problem is with our government only.

 

[NinadG]

Nestle admits it could have averted crisis
Insiders said this was the first time senior executives had made an admission of this kind

Senior executives of Nestle India have admitted to colleagues in meetings that the recall of Maggi noodles, its biggest brand, could have been handled better.

Some said the crisis that led to the country’s largest product recall could have been averted had engagement with the government and regulators been better.

Brand and public relations experts have been unanimous that events leading up to the June 5 ban and recall of Maggi noodles could have been handled better had Nestle India been more proactive.

"This is a government body that has come out with these findings and not some random allegation made by an aggrieved consumer on social media. Families with kids are bound to take this seriously," said N Chandramouli, CEO, Trust Research Advisory, a Mumbai-based company that comes out with the annual Brand Trust Report.

Nestle was perceived as being feeble in its defence after findings by the Food and Drugs Administration in UP that Maggi contained lead and MSG beyond the permissible limit.

As the matter escalated with more states claiming Maggi was unsafe, the company did not do much apart from issuing statements rebutting these findings, experts said.

Even the presence of Paul Bulcke, Nestle's global chief executive, in India could not help salvage matters.


Read more at: Nestle admits it could have averted crisis - Rediff.com Business

 

[NinadG]

They must be more strict and if their test is showing good results then problem is with our government only.

So you mean Nestle export quality of Maggi is same as that of consumed locally....