Maggi hullaballoo sparks memes, jokes

While the controversy has hit its sales in some places, in most there seems to be hardly any effect

If Maggi is banned, half of India won’t be able to claim: “I can cook for myself.” Or, so claims a Twitter post.

Since the food and drug safety authorities in the country revealed that some packets of Maggi, a popular noodles snack manufactured by Nestle India, a subsidiary of the Swiss Nestle SA, has more than the permissible limit of lead and monosodium glutamate, there has been a deluge of sorts on social media, with #MaggiBan.

Jokes and memes have flooded micro-blogging site Twitter.

Punning on the Hindi word for brain (dimaag), one such post read: “#Maggi has lead in it. Lead can damage your brain. Hindi mein bole toh: “The-Maggi” halat. (In Hindi: The-Maggi condition.)” Nestle has been quick to counter the claims of the Uttar Pradesh Food and Drugs Safety Authority that first pointed out the presence of substances likely to be harmful to consumers. After officially releasing their statement that the packets of Maggi that had been tested by the authorities were near their “best before” date, the company posted it on Twitter and Facebook. Easy to cook — its advertisement famously claims it takes only two minutes — Maggi has been the staple diet of students and young professionals living away from home. While the current controversy has hit its sales in some places, in most there seems to be hardly any effect.

On Friday, food authorities in Mumbai and Gujarat, too, initiated tests for the popular snack.

Whether or not, MSG — discovered as a taste enhancer in the early 20th century in Japan — is harmful to humans has been a source of debate since the 1960s. That it can definitely add umami, or a pleasant savoury taste, through its presence has been proven yet again by the variety of social media posts.

“To all the when who say they can cook, don’t lose heart! There’s still boiled egg left in your culinary resume” went viral on Twitter on Friday.

Others declared they planned to stock up on Maggi, if a ban were implemented.

“I really don’t care about the MSG in #Maggi! If they gonna ban it, tell me now so I can run and stock my kitchen with Maggi for 2 years!” said one apparent Maggi lover.