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Lead poisoning was one of the major reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire, some say. Thousands of years of culture, lives — an era by its own right — bowed to a metal that was used for making water pipes, according to some theories.
Thousands of years later, a huge brand name built over years of hard work seems to be collapsing. With it is collapsing the trust of millions of young people who are set to lose their licence of calling themselves chefs of their own kitchen. And all of that is lost in mere “two” minutes — thanks to, again, lead.
After five states banned Nestle’s instant noodle brand Maggi over the alleged presence of a dangerous level of lead in some of its packets, the company has finally had to spring into action. Before shopkeepers could move to junk the stocks of Maggi in their stores, the company has itself decided to take its product off shelves. Nestle, however, has promised a comeback soon, after addressing the concerns.
Earlier, even as the news of the alleged presence of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG), a taste enhancer whose use it not allowed beyond a level in most foods, was spreading, Nestle’s response to the whole crisis was rather half-hearted. Their tweets and Facebook posts were not much effective and did not help dispel the panic among people.
However, after the company pulled Maggi out of the market — which seemed the only major action it took — Nestle’s global chief executive officer, Paul Bulcke, on Friday said: “We have been in India for over 100 years. We are part of India. Trust of consumer is shaken because of some confusion and we want to restore that.” He appealed to the sentiment of the people.
According to Bulcke, it was an “environment of confusion” that forced Nestle to pull the product out from Indian market. He said their primary objective was to come back. Seeing the once-blamed-now-thriving market of soft drinks, it seems Maggi has few reasons to be pessimistic.
But the people of India, especially the young, who counted on Maggi as go-to food when hunger struck, have taken to social media for airing their disappointment over the Swiss company still not apologising.
Among the top trending hashtags on microblogging site Twitter on Friday was #NestleIndia. And the tweets were pouring in hordes. Here are a few prominent ones:
Now will someone from #nestleIndia own up, promise stern steps and apologize? Or will it let the 'blame the brand ambassador' game happen?
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) June 5, 2015
It took years to build the brand and two minutes to destroy it. #NestleIndia
— Pratik (@Pratieekk) June 5, 2015Also Read
#NestleIndia why not a single leading international NGO agitating against junk food sold by multinationals in India?
— harish maru (@maruharish) June 5, 2015
An afraid, #NestleIndia will hv to bear the cost of Bihar Elections. #MaggiRecalled
— Vinod Mehta (@DrunkVinodMehta) June 5, 2015
