U.S. testing Nestle's Maggi noodles after India recall

ZURICH (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is testing samples of a Nestle instant noodle brand that was recalled from stores across India last week, a spokeswoman for the Swiss food group said on Thursday.

Nestle, the world's largest food company, is seeking to defend its reputation in India after it pulled Maggi instant noodles from stores following reports by regulators that some packets contained excess lead.

A spokeswoman for the Swiss-based company said the United States' FDA was now also looking into the issue.

"We have been made aware that the FDA has taken samples of Maggi noodles manufactured in India from third-party importers' containers for testing, and we have asked the importers to advise us of the outcome of the FDA tests," the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Nestle does not import, market or distribute Maggi noodles in the United States, the spokeswoman said. Any Maggi noodle products in U.S. stores are sourced by retailers or imported through third parties, she added.

A spokeswoman for the FDA said the agency was looking into the removal of Maggi noodles from the Indian marketplace but that it was not yet clear whether U.S. products were affected by the recall.

In a separate statement, Nestle India said it had lodged a judicial review with the Bombay High Court over an order from India's Food and Drug Administration, effectively seeking to clarify the state's method of testing the noodles.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Oliver Hirt; Additional reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Mumbai; Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Poter)