MUMBAI: Indian state Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found lead contamination in fresh batches of Nestle India’s Maggi noodles tested over the last two months.
Out of 46 samples randomly collected from across the state, four showed excess lead content.
This lead content, expressed in ‘parts per million’ (or ppm) was in the range of 2.92 to 3.33. The permissible limit is 2.5 PPM, according to reports in Indian media.
The 46 samples had been collected in June at the instructions of the Food Safety Standard Association of India (FSSAI) that wanted FDAs of all states to conduct elaborate tests to ascertain the presence of lead.
In June this year, Nestle had to take Maggi off the shelves, after few states decided to ban the noodles. FSSAI had also banned Maggi instant noodles terming them “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption.
Nestlé India said its sales plunged by 20% in the second quarter, as a food-safety scandal and a large-scale Maggi Noodles recall weighed on its earnings.
Nestle India posted disappointing second quarter (April-June) results after its most popular brand Maggi noddles was banned nationwide on food safety concerns.
