New Delhi: Nestle, the maker of the immensely popular noodles, Maggi, admitted in the Supreme Court on Thursday about presence of lead in its product.
“We are of the view that CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru) report be evaluated by the NCDRC in the complaint before it. It will not be appropriate for this court to pre-empt the jurisdiction of NCDRC… All the rights and contentions of the parties will remain open,” the SC bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta ordered.
The counsel, however, breathed a sigh of relief that MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) was not found.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) had initiated an action suit against Nestle for not meeting safety norms in 2015. Food safety regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had banned Maggi noodles after it found excess levels of lead in samples, terming it as “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption. Eventually in 2017, huge tonnes of Maggi was destroyed and the government sought damages of Rs 640 crore.
