 "<b>V K Pandey</b>: The man who put Maggi in the soup")
Vineet Kumar Pandey, the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) official who had led the team that originally collected samples of Nestle’s Maggi noodles that were found to contain high levels of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG), is a man of rustic tastes. He loves to gorge on the humble litti chokha and dahi chura, both staple cuisine in his native Siwan district of Bihar.
His sudden fame in the aftermath of the nationwide action against Nestle India, which markets Maggi, amuses him. As reporters constantly jostle around him for soundbites, he smiles wryly. “I do not want to be a hero and feel rather awkward in the media glare.”
Sitting in his small, nondescript chamber in Barabanki with its iron almirahs that hold official documents, the 40-year-old is frank enough to admit that Maggi was a favourite with his children, as in any other urban household. However, post the Maggi tests, things have changed in the Pandey household and the 2-minute instant noodle is off the menu.
It was in March 2014 that the Barabanki FDA team collected some packets of Maggi from an Easy Day outlet and submitted them for testing. The preliminary lab report revealed that the contents had MSG beyond the permissible limit. However, Nestle India contested the findings and appealed for further tests. The sample was sent to a referral laboratory in Kolkata, which not only confirmed the presence of MSG, but detected levels of lead much beyond the prescribed limit.
The Kolkata report for the sample collected in 2014 came in the second half of April 2015 and the findings were played up in the media right away. In the days that followed, several states ordered the popular noodles off the shelves. The raging controversy has even forced Nestle global CEO Paul Bulcke to come to India from Switzerland to take stock of the situation. The company has voluntarily withdrawn Maggi from the Indian market, but maintains the product was safe for consumption.
With a sigh, Pandey expresses both satisfaction and hope that the Maggi episode will encourage field officers of state food departments to perform their duty with responsibility as well as work to make consumers aware of what they buy and eat. But action comes easy to Pandey.
Earlier, he had taken on another top food brand, Britannia, for a misleading marking on its cake packets. A court case was filed in 2013 and the company was forced to make suitable changes in the text.
In his office, Pandey multitasks, frequently checking his mail and shouting out instructions to his subordinates and field officers on the collection of food samples for checking and for preparing reports. The steady stream of visitors clamouring for the latest update on Maggi makes him frown more often than usual. He admits, with some exasperation, that he has had to charge his phone battery twice a day ever since the Maggi story made headlines in the national media.
“At the start of my career in 1998, India had witnessed major food related controversies involving KFC and dropsy in mustard oil. That made me realise the importance of my job, which is to protect public health,” he says. Asked about the challenges he faces in the field, Pandey is reluctant to say much. When prodded, he says that no company wants to get into trouble and so their officials always seek to “settle the matter” to protect the brand in question. Even as he answers another call on his plain feature phone, he adds, “What matters is the integrity and determination of the officer, so that the rules are adhered to at any cost.”
Pandey’s colleagues and subordinates vouch for his upright demeanour and professional conduct. They say he is well versed with the nuances of the laws and has been a stickler for meticulous documentation since he took charge in Barabanki in May 2010.
His sudden fame in the aftermath of the nationwide action against Nestle India, which markets Maggi, amuses him. As reporters constantly jostle around him for soundbites, he smiles wryly. “I do not want to be a hero and feel rather awkward in the media glare.”
Read more from our special coverage on "NESTLE MAGGI CONTOVERSY"
Sitting in his small, nondescript chamber in Barabanki with its iron almirahs that hold official documents, the 40-year-old is frank enough to admit that Maggi was a favourite with his children, as in any other urban household. However, post the Maggi tests, things have changed in the Pandey household and the 2-minute instant noodle is off the menu.
It was in March 2014 that the Barabanki FDA team collected some packets of Maggi from an Easy Day outlet and submitted them for testing. The preliminary lab report revealed that the contents had MSG beyond the permissible limit. However, Nestle India contested the findings and appealed for further tests. The sample was sent to a referral laboratory in Kolkata, which not only confirmed the presence of MSG, but detected levels of lead much beyond the prescribed limit.
The Kolkata report for the sample collected in 2014 came in the second half of April 2015 and the findings were played up in the media right away. In the days that followed, several states ordered the popular noodles off the shelves. The raging controversy has even forced Nestle global CEO Paul Bulcke to come to India from Switzerland to take stock of the situation. The company has voluntarily withdrawn Maggi from the Indian market, but maintains the product was safe for consumption.
With a sigh, Pandey expresses both satisfaction and hope that the Maggi episode will encourage field officers of state food departments to perform their duty with responsibility as well as work to make consumers aware of what they buy and eat. But action comes easy to Pandey.
It was in March that the Barabanki FDA team collected some packets of Maggi from an Easy Day outlet and submitted them for testing
Earlier, he had taken on another top food brand, Britannia, for a misleading marking on its cake packets. A court case was filed in 2013 and the company was forced to make suitable changes in the text.
In his office, Pandey multitasks, frequently checking his mail and shouting out instructions to his subordinates and field officers on the collection of food samples for checking and for preparing reports. The steady stream of visitors clamouring for the latest update on Maggi makes him frown more often than usual. He admits, with some exasperation, that he has had to charge his phone battery twice a day ever since the Maggi story made headlines in the national media.
“At the start of my career in 1998, India had witnessed major food related controversies involving KFC and dropsy in mustard oil. That made me realise the importance of my job, which is to protect public health,” he says. Asked about the challenges he faces in the field, Pandey is reluctant to say much. When prodded, he says that no company wants to get into trouble and so their officials always seek to “settle the matter” to protect the brand in question. Even as he answers another call on his plain feature phone, he adds, “What matters is the integrity and determination of the officer, so that the rules are adhered to at any cost.”
Pandey’s colleagues and subordinates vouch for his upright demeanour and professional conduct. They say he is well versed with the nuances of the laws and has been a stickler for meticulous documentation since he took charge in Barabanki in May 2010.