 "Experts urge FSSAI to standardise its testing procedure")
Even as one of India’s largest and most popular food brands - Nestle’s Maggi - stands on the brink of destruction, a few fundamental questions are being raised on the food-testing processes in the country and the irregularities in reports establishing high lead content in the two minutes noodles.
The controversy began when an officer of the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration ordered tests on a dozen samples of Nestle’s Maggi at the state laboratory in Gorakhpur, and repeat tests at the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata, a referral lab.
While both tests found monosodium glutamate (MSG), the Kolkata lab found “very high quantities” of lead — 17.2 parts per million (ppm).
Now, with Nestle furnishing detailed reports which show lead-content in Maggi was within permissible limits, and also states like Kerela and Maharashta deeming the popular noodle safe, questions are being raised on how effective food testing procedures are in the country.
In a recent interview to CNBC-TV18, former Britannia chief Sunil Alagh has lambasted the food-testing process in the country, calling it “disastrous”.
“Does everybody know that there is lead in every single product you eat? That is why the government of India has put permissible limits on it. Nobody adds lead to a product. It is available in the soil, it comes from the groundwater, it comes from the flour. So, the question is ...are we using the right testing processes?”
“Does everybody know that there is lead in every single product you eat? That is why the government of India has put permissible limits on it. Nobody adds lead to a product. It is available in the soil, it comes from the groundwater, it comes from the flour. So, the question is ...are we using the right testing processes?”
Alagh’s defence of Nestle comes close on the heels of three study reports - all prepared by the Kolkata-based Edward Food Research & Analysis Centre (EFRAC) - uploaded onto the food manufacturer’s website, stating that in all Maggi Masala noodles samples the private laboratory had tested for lead and other heavy metals were within the permissible limits.
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Citing the large number of irregularities in the test findings, Alagh also questioned, “How have Kerala and Maharashtra found it okay and only Delhi has found it wrong?”
Earlier, with Delhi placing a 15-day ban on the sales of Maggi, states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, had placed bans on the popular noodle in quick succession. Countries like the United Kingdom, Nepal and Bahrain too followed suit. The Indian Army and the central police canteens too have stopped catering Maggi noodles.
In an interview to Business Standard, EFRAC CEO Balwinder Bajwa defended his lab's results, saying, “There could be difference based on the operation process, validation, chemicals used. Even the water used for analysis can result in differences over test results. I am no one to comment on the procedure of other labs, but we have the best machines and follow the best procedures for our lab. The results I have with me are 100 per cent authentic. I stand by my results.” (Read the interview)
Even as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) prepares to conduct similar tests on other noodles and pasta brands, experts have urged it to first establish a standardised procedure for testing food across the country.