Goa to test Maggi noodles again

Two days after giving it a thumbs up Goa, on the instructions of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), will now send Maggi noodles samples to a Karnataka-based government laboratory for tests for the third time, a top official said on Friday.

In a statement issued here, Goa's Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) director Salim Veljee also said tests on Maggi noodles were conducted in two separate laboratories in Goa and on both occasions the results were negative for MSG and lead.

"...this directorate is now referring these samples for further verification to the Referral Food Laboratory at Mysore which is a notified FSSAI laboratory for Goa, so as to arrive at any concrete conclusions to the product quality of these samples drawn by FDA, Goa," Veljee said.

On Thursday, the FSSAI, a central food and safety standards body, had said the test results from Goa, one of the few states where Maggi noodles samples had tested negative for MSG and lead, were "inappropriate".

Veljee said Maggi noodles samples, sourced from the Nestle manufacturing unit in Goa and retail units in the state, were tested in two government-operated laboratories - one operated by the FDA and another by the Goa State Pollution Control Board - where the samples tested negative on both occasions.

"The Maggie noodle samples were subjected to independent analysis both on the noodles as well as the tastemaker powder sachet for the above tests," Veljee said.