Nestle to resume Maggi production as soon as possible

Without spelling out any specific time-frame, Nestle India on Tuesday said the production of Maggi noodles would be resumed as soon as possible.

Sources, however, said the instant noodles would be available in the market within four to five months.

"Restarting the manufacturing process and bringing Maggi noodles to the consumers requires alignment with several stakeholders, including our suppliers, distributors and retailers, among others," said Himangshu Manglik, senior corporate media relations manager, Nestle India.

"We are engaging with the relevant authorities and other stakeholders to activate the process for manufacturing Maggi noodles at various locations which manufacture Maggi noodles," added Manglik.

Reacting to Karnataka government revoking the ban on Maggi noodles and giving the nod to resumption of production of the instant noodles, Nestle India said: "We appreciate the positive approach of the state (Karnataka) and are grateful to them for reviewing the test reports from the three labs mandated by the Bombay High Court and removing the ban."

Manglik highlighted that Nestle conducted over 3,500 tests additional tests on Maggi representing over 200 million packs in Indian and international laboratories which emerged clean.

"In addition to these, various countries including US, UK (Britain), Singapore, Australia and others have found Maggi noodles manufactured in India safe for consumption," he said.

Nestle also said all the 90 Maggi samples covering six varieties tested by Bombay High Court mandated laboratories contained lead below the permissible limits.

The Swiss giant said it does not add Mono-sodium Glutamate (MSG) in Maggi but claimed ingredients like groundnut protein, onion powder and wheat flour contain glutamate naturally.

The food authorities in India do not specify any limit for MSG, the company added.

In Karnataka, Nestle has been manufacturing Maggi since 2011 from its culinary plant at Nanjangud. From the same location, since 1989, the international food giant has been manufacturing Nescafe Instant Coffee.

"Five of our eight plants across the country including Nanjangud have the capacity to manufacture Maggi noodles and all of them use state-of-the-art technology, follow the same stringent standards, are FSSC 22000 certified and all the Nestle India plants maintain the same high quality," Manglik added.