Maggi is safe to eat but no clean chit yet

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Maggi is safe to eat but no clean chit yetDespite finding Maggi noodles safe after testing, the officials have refused to give it a clean chit.
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Samples of two-minute Maggi noodles from Goa were sent to a government-run laboratory in Karnataka for re-analysis and it was found that the instant noodles were safe for consumption.

However, Director of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Salim Veljee, refused to give a clean chit.

He said the negative result did not necessarily mean a clean chit for the company's product because of contrary findings made by other state and central government laboratories while testing the Nestle-manufactured noodles, which have been banned in Goa as well as across the country.

"The samples of these noodles were subjected for a re-analysis of the said five Maggi noodle products at the Goa State Pollution Control Board laboratory at Patto, Panaji and the results of the analysis were found to be consistent with the findings of the Goa FDA Lab in declaring the lead contents to be below the permissible limit of 2.5 ppm and negative for MSG," Veljee told reporters.

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Goa had banned sale of Maggi in June 8 and several tonnes of Maggi noodles were destroyed after tests in state-run laboratories across India revealed that the popular snack had excess amounts of MSG and presence of lead.

On the instructions of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI), which described the tests conducted in Goa as not up to the mark, new Maggi noodles samples were then sent to the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysuru, Karnataka for another round of tests, which have only now confirmed the Goa FDA's results.

Veljee added that the CFTRI reports re-confirmed the consistent analytical results findings of the State FDA Goa laboratory, in which all the said five samples of Nestle's Maggie conformed with the Food Safety and Standards Rules/Regulation 2011.

Lead in all the five samples was "reported to be well below the permissible limit as well as negative for the MSG in the said samples, which analysis was performed separately on the noodles and taste maker", he added.

(Image: Indiatimes)