 "Maggi")
Following the recent Bombay High Court order, Gujarat government too has lifted the ban on Maggi. Having imposed ban on the instant noodles brand by Nestle India over presence of excess lead for three months, the state government decided not to extend the ban further from October.
"We had been extending the ban for 30 days for the last three months even as tests were being conducted. However, we decided not to extend the ban further after we received the Bombay High Court order recently. Hence, ban on Maggi noodles in Gujarat stands revoked," said H G Koshia, commissioner of the Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) of Gujarat.
In June, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had banned Maggi noodles on grounds of lead levels beyond permissible limits being found even as the product was termed 'unsafe and hazardous' for consumption. Even as its withdrew the instant noodles from the market, Nestle India had challenged the ban by FSSAI in the Bombay High Court which, in August, lifted the nation-wide ban while ordering a fresh test of samples of the product in three independent labs across India.
A division bench comprising Justices VM Kanade and BP Colabawalla of Bombay High Court ordered Nestle India to send five samples of each variant to three accredited labs in Punjab, Hyderabad and Jaipur and asked the labs to give their reports within six weeks..
The High Court bench not only set aside the June 5 FSSAI order but also also quashed Maharashtra's Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)'s order banning production and sale of Maggi noodles in India and the state.
