Food safety chiefs have ordered tests on Nestlé Maggi brand noodles on sale in the UK following reports that products sold in India contained high levels of lead.
The Food Standards Agency has asked its local authority contacts across the country to test all variants of Maggi noodles for higher than permitted levels of lead as a precaution.
Although Nestlé insisted all its products were ‘absolutely safe for consumption’, it has pulled its Maggi noodles from shelves in India following reports by some Indian states that testing had detected high levels of lead and undeclared monosodium glutamate.
The FSA said it was working with Nestlé UK and the European Commission to investigate the Indian report.
Nestlé said only one flavour of Maggi 2 Minute Noodles - masala – was imported for the UK and Ireland market, and that the batch of noodles originally tested by authorities in India was not sold in the UK or Ireland. Other flavours of Maggi noodles sold in the UK are imported from Nestlé factories in other countries.
In a statement, the company said the trust of its consumers and safety of its products was its first priority, and that it was working closely with the FSA and local authorities.
“Unfortunately, recent developments and unfounded concerns about the product in India have led to an environment of confusion for the consumer there, to such an extent that Nestlé India has decided to withdraw the product off the shelves in India, despite the product being safe,” it added.
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