Bahrain has temporarily banned the import and sale of Nestle’s Maggi noodles from India, amid reports that the level of lead content in the popular instant snack in India was found to be above permissible limit.
The move follows a Health Ministry-ordered seizure of hundreds of packets of Maggi noodles, which reportedly found their way onto shop shelves in Bahrain through local traders.
“The Health Ministry has now ordered heightened vigilance at the country’s ports to ensure that no more of the Indian-manufactured noodles enter Bahrain,” Maryam Al Jalahma, primary care and public health assistant under-secretary was quoted as saying by Gulf Daily News.
“Action was immediately taken by health inspectors to withdraw Indian-origin Maggi noodles from shops. We collected close to 360 packets during random inspections conducted in various stores across the country.
“It was found that the products were imported directly from India or from other neighbouring regional markets in small quantities before the health scare,” she said.
The decision comes after Maggi noodles, a popular brand of noodle manufactured in India, was banned in different Indian states after a high level of lead along with excessive amounts of taste enhancer such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) were detected in the noodle.
“Shopkeepers and retailers cannot import the Indian noodles as we have now notified inspectors at the ports to ban their entrance into the country,” she said.
Lead content in 14 of 27 samples in India was found to be 2.8 PPM to 5 PPM (particle per million), which is above the prescribed limit of 2.5 PPM. Presence of excess lead is harmful for health.
After being hit by a recall order in India, Maggi Noodles has come under the scanner of Health Canada as the product imported into the country is being investigated by Canadian Food Inspection Authority (CFIA).
According to a statement by the Health Canada, it may issue a recall if the imported Maggi brand noodles are found to have discrepancies.
“The CFIA is aware of the recent incident in India involving Maggi brand noodles, including Nestle’s removal of products from the Indian marketplace.
“The CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation for the possible presence of lead in Maggi brand noodle products imported into Canada by various firms. If affected products are identified as part of the Agency’s ongoing investigation, a food recall warning will be issued,” the Canadian health regulator said in a statement.
The CFIA takes food safety concerns very seriously. More information will be shared with the public as it becomes available, it added.
In India, several states including Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa have banned sale of Maggi noddles.
Cracking down on Swiss giant Nestle, central health regulator FSSAI on Friday banned all variants of Maggi noodles terming them as “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption. In the dock over alleged lapses of food safety standards in its famous Maggi noodles, Nestle India has disclosed having spent Rs 445 core on ‘advertising and sales promotion’ last year, while the expenses towards ‘quality testing’ was less than 5 per cent of such amounts.
Similar has been the trend over the last five years, when the ‘advertising and sales promotion’ expenses ranged between Rs 300-450 crore annually, while expenditure on ‘laboratory or quality testing’ moved between Rs 12-20 crore.
An analysis of the annual financial accounts of the Indian arm of the Swiss multinational giant Nestle shows that the expenses towards employees have risen the most in the last five years—up by about 75 per cent from Rs 433 crore in the year 2010 to Rs 755 crore in 2014.
The company follows a financial year ending December 31.
PTI