The Maggi Ban in India

In the month of January 2015, a food inspector from Barabanki (food inspector ), Uttar Pradesh, sent a packet of Nestlé’s Maggi instant noodles picked up randomly from a retail outlet to the State Food Laboratory in Gorakhpur for testing the contents and analyzing its safety level for consumption. The labeling on the packet claimed that there was “No added MSG” in the product. The results of the test analysis showed that there was MSG in the product. Therefore, the food inspector alleged that Nestlé was mislabeling its product. The food inspector passed on the information to FSSAI and informed Nestlé of the results of the test through a notice. On receiving the information, Nestlé disputed the results and demanded that a fresh test be conducted at the Referral Laboratory at Kolkata which was a Central Food Laboratory authorized by the Government of India, which re-tested products if there was a dispute about the authenticity of the State Food Laboratory analysis.