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In a partial relief for Nestle, the Bombay High Court on Thursday lifted the ban on Maggi pending fresh tests. Now 3 accredited government labs in Mohali, Jaipur and Hyderabad will conduct fresh tests on the preserved samples of Maggi, to check if lead and MSG is in permissible limits.
A time frame of 6 weeks has been set aside for these results, pending that the Court will reivew whether Maggi can be brought back to shelves or not.
During the proceedings, the Bombay High Court did not take a favourable view of the entire controversy, saying that “the ban order is not tenable or even sustainable, and violates natural justice”. However the Court is extremely concerned about the health of people, so in order to strike a balance, the Court has ordered fresh testing.
However, in defence, the FFSAI lawyer said that the HC order was conditional. He also clarified that Nestle India can only start manufacturing after a clearance is received.
Even though this verdict is a conditinal lift, it is a huge blow to the FSSAI. So what will the government do next? They were planning to sue Nestle for 100 million dollars.
Nestle India’s Arguments in Court
Nestle India had filed a petition challenging FSSAI’s 5 June order, banning nine variants of Maggi noodles and the Maharashtra government’s order which prohibited the sale of the products.
At the hearings, Nestle India argued that the CEO of FSSAI had passed the order in an “emergent, drastic and arbitrary” manner. It said that the food regulator should have served a notice before issuing the ban order.
Further contending the FSSAI ban order, the company said the food regulator should have mentioned a case “of injury or risk to health”. FSSAI could not have banned Maggi noodles just by claiming that the product was bad for health, the company argued.
Nestle also told the court that children are being told that Maggi noodles are poisonous, and this would affect the company’s credibility and reputation that it built over the last 30 years.
Meanwhile, the company has landed into another trouble as the Centre has filed a class action suit seeking Rs 640 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements.
Background
In May, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had found high amounts of lead and traces of MSG in the noodles.
On 5 June, FSSAI ordered Nestle India to withdraw nine variants of Maggi noodles from the market, claiming it was “unsafe and hazardous” to eat. However, the multinational food company has maintained from the beginning that the lead content in Maggi instant noodles is within the permissible limit.
The food regulator further accused the company of misleading the customers by labelling the packets of Maggi noodles with “no added MSG”. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer added to various packaged food items.
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