Canada follows suit, seventh country to clear Maggi noodles

Canadian regulator did not find any health risk in consuming Maggi noodles

More relief for Nestle's Maggi noodles. Following the United Kingdom, another country with major Indian origin population – Canada found Maggi noodles, imported from India, to be safe for human consumption. Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), today early morning (Indian Time), issued a statement announcing its findings on the India-made instant noodles.

In reaction, a Nestle India spokesperson said, “We welcome the fact that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s investigation did not find any health risk associated with the consumption of MAGGI noodles sold in Canada. It follows similar investigations by regulatory authorities in other countries including the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand which have also cleared the product.”

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On 5th June, immediately after Nestle India’s withdrawal of Maggi noodles from the Indian market, the Canadian food regulator started an “investigation for the possible presence of lead in Maggi brand noodle products imported into Canada by various firms”. CFIA also told consumers in the country that “if affected products are identified as part of the Agency's ongoing investigation, a Food Recall Warning will be issued”.

Today morning the CFIA assured its consumers that tests conducted on Maggi noodle products from India failed to show higher than permissible levels of lead present in them. “The CFIA's food safety investigation did not find any health risk associated with the consumption of Maggi brand noodle products sold in Canada”, it said.

The announcement came just two days after UK's food authority cleared the food product. After conducting tests on 900 samples of various Maggi noodle variants, UK FSA found “levels of lead to be well within EU (European Union) permissible levels”, adding that the instant noodle possess no threat to health. Nestle exports Maggi noodles from India to Canada, UK, Singapore and Kenya.

In the last one month, five other countries have ‘okayed’ Maggi noodles manufactured in India and sold in their territory. While, Singapore found the instant noodle to be safe for consumption, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam followed suit.

The ongoing hullabaloo over Nestlé’s flagship noodle brand in India has attracted attention of all the major countries where Maggi noodles are consumed, including Canada. “The CFIA takes food safety concerns very seriously. We are continuing to monitor the situation in India and are working with our international regulatory partners”, the regulator added.