Announcing the withdrawal of Maggi noodles across India after reports of higher-than-permissible levels of some substances, Nestle's global chief executive Paul Bulcke on Friday asserted its product was "safe".
"Maggi noodles are completely safe and passed every independent test by the company. It has been trusted in India for over 30 years. Trust of our consumers and safety of our products is our first priority anywhere in the world," Bulcke told a press conference here.
"Unfortunately, recent developments and growing concerns about our product have led to confusion among consumers to such an extent that we have decided to take it temporarily off the shelves, though it is safe," Bulcke added.
"Our priority now is to engage all stakeholders to clear the confusion," he said.
The press conference was called after some state governments banned Maggi for 15 to 30 days and many called for tests on the popular noodles.
Earlier, a sample from a small town in Uttar Pradesh was found to allegedly contain higher-than-permissible levels of lead. There were also charges of high levels of monosodium glutamate.
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"We are clarifying with the authorities. Maggi will be back on store shelves as soon as possible," the Nestle CEO said.
Bulcke declined to reply when asked whether the company planned to temporarily stop production in India.
"Our tests did not find any lead. We are trying to engage with authorities regarding methods they used for testing," he said.
The Nestle chief executive also maintained that Indian authorities did not share with the company the process to test samples of noodles. He had, on Thursday, represented to the watchdog - Food Safety and Standards Authority of India - on the matter.
About the alleged lead content in Maggi, he said: "Nestle has conducted extensive, additional tests on over 1,000 batches of Maggi noodles at its own accredited labs, complimented by tests on over 600 batches at external laboratories. All results indicate that Maggi noodles are safe and well within the regulatory limits established in India."
"We are engaging with the regulator. Our tests did not find any lead," he added.
Nestle has shared these results with authorities as well as with the general public online, the company CEO said.
Nestle also said it did not add monosodium glutamate (E621) to Maggi noodles in India, as stated on the label. Some ingredients like groundnut protein, onion powder and wheat flour contain MSG, this may have led to the confusion, and as such Nestle decided to remove "no added MSG" from its product.
"We had intensive discussion with authorities - both national and local. We are affirmative about our tests and all chemicals were well below permissible levels. We apply same quality measures and safety procedures like in other countries," Bulcke said.
He said Nestle won't take Maggi off the shelves in the United Kingdom.
Authorities in the UK began investigations into Maggi quality sold across Indian shops there.
Asked about any suspected conspiracy in the matter, he said: "We won't venture into any speculation."
Regarding the beating taken by Nestle stocks in India and its overall business, he said: "For us, everything is linked to consumer trust. It is more important how it is impacting consumer trust."
He, however, admitted that "it is a difficult time to go through".
On the controversy over larvae in Nestle's baby product Nan Pro in Coimbatore, Nestle said the samples would be tested.