Goa bans sale of Maggi, Centre may probe other fast foods

In more trouble for Nestle's 'Maggi' instant noodles, Goa today became the 11th state to impose a ban on its sale even as Centre indicated that more fast food products could be probed.
Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar announced the ban on Maggi, which is at the centre of a raging nationwide row over food safety concerns, keeping in view a similar measure taken by various other states though Maggi samples tested by Goa's health regulator did not find any harmful contents in them.
"Since Maggi has been already banned across the country, we have decided not to take a chance and ban it in Goa," he told reporters in Mapusa town near Panaji.

Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat and Uttarakhand earlier banned Maggi noodles amid mounting food safety concerns and several laboratory tests reporting excessive lead in it.
"Though the results of Maggi samples tested in state-run Food and Drugs Administration's (FDA) laboratory did not show presence of any harmful contents, the State Government has decided to ban sale of Maggi here," Parsekar said.
He said government has already sent the samples of Maggi for further tests in a private lab at Mysore.

Nestle, the company which manufactures Maggi noodles, has a plant in Goa in Bicholim town.

Responding to a question, the Goa CM said rest of the packaged food products of other brands would also be tested. "Indeed we need to check the other packaged food products," he said.
Cracking down on Swiss giant Nestle, Central health watchdog FSSAI on Friday banned all variants of Maggi noodles terming them as "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption.
In Delhi, Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik when asked about the Maggi controversy said, "The lead that has been found in it, it is not good for the health. That is why it has been banned.
"There might be many other such products. It is not that one product was banned and its over. The Union Health Ministry and even the states are keeping an eye on places where such products are available," Naik said on the sidelines of an event.

He however clarified that no such product has come to light as of now. "We will tell you once such thing comes to light," he said.