NCDRC wants Maggi noodles to undergo fresh test

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), the country's top consumer court wants Maggi to undergo fresh test. So, now the largest selling instant noodles will be sent to the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore for testing.

A bench of NCDRC, headed by Justice VK Jain, which is hearing a class action suit filed against Nestle India, ordered the fresh tests on 13 samples from nine batches of the product available with the government of India.
The case will be heard again on November 23.

The tests ordered by the Bombay High Court were done on samples that had been available with the company, which made the government's counsel make a request to test samples of Maggi available with it.

The Bombay High Court revoked the ban in August and ordered fresh tests of the product, saying the food regulator had failed to follow procedure while collecting samples of Maggi noodles.
The government, in a complaint filed through the Department of Consumer Affairs against Nestle India in August, is seeking about Rs 640 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices and sale of defective goods.

The consumer court turned down the government counsel's request to allow procurement of additional samples from the FSSAI because it would be in disregard of the Bombay High Court's order.

It was decided that the noodles and the tastemaker would be tested separately. The consumer court appointed a local commissioner to visit a Nestle warehouse in Lucknow, where 5-8 tonnes of Maggi noodles confiscated by the FSSAI have been stored. The commissioner will prepare an inventory list by batch number and expiry date for further investigation.