by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Halal Food, Halal Industries
New Delhi:(IANS) The apex consumer court on Monday served a notice on Nestle India over the government’s Rs.640-crore unfair trade practice class action suit related to Maggi noodles and fixed Sep 30 as the next date of hearing.
A bench of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, comprising Justice V.K. Jain and Justice B.C. Gupta, directed Nestle to respond to the notice by Sep 30 and allowed the government to send samples of Maggi noodles to an accredited laboratory for tests on lead content and MSG.
“The court has accepted to hear the case for unfair trade practice and misleading consumers through advertisements and packaging,” Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain said after the preliminary hearing.
During the hearing, the bench expressed doubt over the government’s cause of action, saying the Bombay High Court’s judgment in the matter had dealt with the issue of lead content.
It said since the high court had rejected the government’s current reports on lead content — for not being from an accredited laboratory — there was no report to prove the government’s contention that Nestle was selling hazardous products.
The government’s counsel, Sanjay Jain, replied that the government had approached the consumer forum on a “broader issue”. The central government was dealing with the question of whether Nestle had “all this while” sold a product which did not meet India’s food safety standards, he said.
Jain said later: “The court has sought fresh, sealed samples to be tested by accredited labs. Further course of action will be decided by the ministry (of consumer affairs).”
After a 30-minute hearing, the forum agreed to have Maggi samples tested at an accredited lab, and issued the notice to Nestle to respond to the government’s accusations.
The Department of Consumer Affairs had alleged that Nestle by its “unfair trade practices” vis a vis Maggi instant noodles, by selling “defective and hazardous products” has caused injury to millions of consumers, which called for this class action suit.
“It is now apparent that Maggi and its variants are neither healthy nor enjoyable. Quite the contrary, they are far from the quality and standard what even the opponent company had claimed them to be, while seeking approval,” the government had said in its petition.
The petition further said: “The department is keen to safeguard against companies selling defective foodstuff or other products in utter disregard of the existing laws.”
Last week, Nestle India had got a significant respite with the Bombay High Court lifting the ban on the sale of nine instant noodle brands and ordering fresh tests in three separate labs to ascertain that the products complied with the country’s food safety norms.
The conditional relief came following a petition filed by Nestle challenging the regulatory order of June 5 for the withdrawal and recall of nine variants of “Maggi Instant Noodles” and “Maggi Oats Masala Noodles with Tastemaker”.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the industry watchdog, had said in its ban order of June 5 that tests conducted on a batch of Maggi were found to contain more-than-permissible levels of lead and high quantities of mono-sodium glutamate (MSG).
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | News
Mumbai:(IANS) Nestle India got a significant respite on Thursday with the Bombay High Court lifting the ban on the sale of its Maggi instant noodles and ordering fresh tests in three separate labs to ascertain that the product complied with the country’s food safety norms.
The conditional relief came following a petition filed by Nestle challenging the regulatory order of June 5 for the withdrawal and recall of nine variants of “Maggi Instant Noodles” and “Maggi Oats Masala Noodles with Tastemaker”.
A division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice B.P. Colabawalla, while ruling that the principles of natural justice were not followed, also directed fresh tests to be conducted on all major Maggi samples by three separate laboratories within the next six weeks, before it can return to the markets.
“We have examined the evidence in great detail. Since the petitioner Nestle has already agreed not to make and sell Maggi until the food authorities are satisfied, we see no reason to allow any relief to food authorities,” Justice Kanade said.
The court directed that five samples of each Maggi noodles variant sent private labs in Punjab, Jaipur and Hyderabad which are recognized by the National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories.
These samples would be taken from the 750-odd preserved by Nestle after the ban, while a large stock of its products was destroyed by the company after the ban was implemented.
The court specified that only if the lead content was found to be within permissible limits could the company resume its manufacture and sale.
Immediately after the judgement, the stocks of Nestle India surged to the day’s high of Rs.6,545, and eventually closed at Rs.6,356.70, with a gain of Rs.172 or 2.78 percent.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the industry watchdog, had said in its order that tests conducted on a batch of Maggi were found to contain more-than-permissible levels of lead and high quantities of mono-sodium glutamate (MSG).
Refusing also to stay its own order observing that manufacturing and fresh testing would take time, the bench said the FSSAI ban was imposed without following the due principles of natural justice. It also said the tests were conducted in unauthorised labs.
The court further said that the company itself had stated it would not manufacture and sell Maggi till it secured a clean chit from labs accredited with the food safety regulator.
Nestle was also directed to provide five samples from each Maggi batch for testing by the three labs.
Welcoming the judgement, Nestle India said said in a statement that it would comply with the order for conducting fresh tests on samples and expressed its commitment to working with FSSAI, the Maharashtra FDA and other stakeholders.
The significant ruling came a day after Indian authorities announced that they will seek Rs.640 crore in damages from Nestle India for indulging in what they alleged was “unfair trade practices” and mis-statements pertaining to the popular noodles brands.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) is set to hear the case on Friday.
However, the company said recently that more than 2,700 samples of Maggi noodles have already been tested by laboratories in India and abroad in recent months and all have concluded that the lead content was far below permissible limits.
The company also said that five samples tested by the government-accredited referral food laboratory, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, on samples sent by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Goa, had also found similar results.
“Maggi noodles made in India have been tested and found to be safe for consumption by the authorities of several countries across the world.”
Among the four divisions of Nestle India, the category of “prepared dishes and cooking aids”, which broadly translate into Maggi, accounted for 31.5 percent of sales in 2014, as per a presentation by the company to analysts.
The Maggi unit also saw a 1.8 percent increase in volumes in 2014 over the previous year and 8.1 percent rise in value at Rs.21.4 billion
Of the remaining divisions, the category of “milk products and nutrition” had the largest share of 47.1 percent, followed by 12.2 percent for “chocolates and confectionery” and 9.2 percent for “beverages”.
