No MSG in Maggi, noodles safe for consumption, says Nestle global CEO

Amidst a raging row over the safety of Maggi, Nestle Global CEO Paul Bulcke on Friday assured that the product was safe for consumption, and expressed confidence about instant noodles being back on Indian shelves soon.

"There have lately been heavy reports in negative terms, but Maggi noodles have been trusted in India for over 30 years. Maggi noodles in India are safe for consumption and I am very affirmative on this.

Maggi is safe for consumption, we have same quality standards everywhere in world," Bulcke told media persons here.

"This controversy has led to consumers losing trust in us. With our consumers in mind, we shall work with the authorities to clear this situation out. Product quality and safety is of paramount priority to

us. I am very confident that we will be back on the shelves as soon as possible. That is our prime objective," he added.

Bulcke also maintained that none of the batches of Maggi tested internally by Nestle have shown presence of adulterates.

"Over 1,000 batches of Maggi have been tested over the past few days and we have extended these tests to third party labs. All these tests have shown that Maggi is safe for consumption and are well within the regulatory limits established in India... We haven't found lead content in any batches tested internally," he said.

"We do not put MSG in our products. There are some products in which glucomate occurs in a natural way and that may lead to confusion," he added.

Seven states in the country have banned Maggi: Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. Singapore has also banned the instant noodles, with reports stating that the United Kingdom has also ordered a study into its ingredients.