A recent food safety scandal surrounding some of Maggi’s noodle products have led to Australian authorities suspending instant noodles packets that are imported from India.
The company, which has reportedly lost hundreds of millions of dollars since the scandal first broke, is alleged to have produced instant noodle products that contain well over India’s acceptable levels of both lead and MSG.
Noodles will be held and inspected
On 11 June, together with the Australian government, the Department of Agriculture has reportedly issued a ‘holding order’ against Maggi and some of the company’s products.
The Department of Agriculture has issued a notice stating the holding order applies to all Maggi noodle products that are imported from India.
“This is a precautionary measure in response to reports of levels of lead that are potentially non-compliant with the permissible levels in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code),” stated the notice.
“Under the holding order, each consignment will be held in a place to be approved by an authorised officer until it has been inspected, or inspected and analysed, in accordance with the applicable requirements of the Imported Food Inspection Scheme,”
Nestlé fights Indian food authorities
Earlier this month Maggi, which is owned by Nestlé, was forced to recall all of their instant noodle products from Indian store shelves and has since, destroyed approximately AUD $64 million in packet noodles.
However, despite following the commands of India’s food authority, the company is currently preparing to fight the allegations in Bombay High Court in an effort to get their products back in stores.
Whether the Australian bans would be lifted if the company were successful, currently remain to be seen.