Maggi noodles row: Case filed against Nestle, 5 others

A case was lodged on Saturday against Nestle India in a local court here over safety standards of its Maggi product, while actors Amitabh Bachhan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta have also been separately dragged to the court for promoting the 'two-minute' noodles brand.

While the case against Nestle India and five others was filed by the UP food regulator FSDA (Food Safety and Drug Administration), a local advocate filed a separate case against the three cine personalities.

"Following FSDA Commissioner P P Singh's permission to file a case against Nestle India, a case has been filed in the court of ACJM (Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate) here," Barabanki Food Safety Officer V K Pandey said. The case has been lodged against the company's Nestle Nagal Kalan Industrial Area unit (Haroli, Una in HP), Delhi-based Nestle India Limited, an Easy Day outlet in Barabanki and the Delhi-based parent firm Easy Day, as also against and their FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) managers, Mohan Gupta and Shabab Alam, Pandey said.

The FSDA had found monosodium glutamate and lead in excess of the prescribed limit in Maggi samples tested by it.

The FSDA had collected the samples from the Easy Day store in Barabanki and had sent the consignment for testing, which showed that the quantum of lead present was 17 times more than the stipulated limit, which is considered hazardous.

The Union Consumer Affairs Ministry has also asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to look into the matter while Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said yesterday that a class action suit can also be initiated in the matter if a complaint is lodged in this regard with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).