Maharashtra may challenge lifting of ban on Maggi

Mumbai: Maharashtra is planning to move the Supreme Court to challenge the lifting of the ban on Nestle India's Maggi noodles, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat said here on Friday.

"Our legal department is examining all aspects, the pros and cons and depending on their (legal) opinion, we plan to challenge the issue in the Supreme Court," Bapat told IANS.

Justifying the move, Bapat said that certain batches have been tested and there is a possibility that other batches could cause health issues among the consumers.

"Accordingly, we want the ban on the noodles to continue and shall take a decision on moving the Supreme Court soon depending on the legal opinion, as public health is of utmost concern," Bapat added.

In order to ensure that the government plea is not rejected by the apex court, the state plans to build up "a solid case" against Nestle India to seek reversal of the Bombay High Court relief.

Following the successful test results claimed by Maggi, the Bombay High Court had lifted the ban on August 13 and the product hit the markets just before Diwali.

On October 16, Maggi announced 100 percent successful laboratory tests on Maggi noodles samples and on November 4, it said results from three labs accredited to the National Accreditation Board for Testing Calibration Laboratories, mandated by the Bombay High Court also were cleared.

In June, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had ordered a pan-India ban on the company's noodles on the ground that these were "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption due to presence of lead, allegedly beyond permissible limits.

Later, on August 13, the Bombay High Court gave a significant respite to the company by lifting the ban on the sale of the noodle, while also ordering fresh tests to be conducted in three separate labs to ascertain that the product complied with the country's food safety norms.