It was reported earlier this week that Nestlé would destroy more than $50m (£32m) worth of its Maggi noodles product, following a ban by the food safety regulator in India.
All relevant products have been removed from Indian shelves and the company is to dispose of around 27,000 tonnes of the noodle brand. However, it is believed over 17,000 tonnes of the product are with distributors, retail outlets and consumers and are in the process of being bought back by the carton.
The company has said that it is one of the largest ever recalls, not only in its own history but the entire food industry.
It is believed that Nestlé sold around $623m (£400m) of Maggi noodles last year, which accounts for 80% of India’s instant noodle sales.
The Indian regulator ruled that the noodles were ‘unsafe and hazardous’ after finding that some packets contained higher-than-allowed levels of lead and undeclared monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Nestlé has insisted that the noodles are safe and is challenging the ban. It claims that it has carried out its own tests on over 1,000 batches of Maggi noodles, as well as commissioning tests at external laboratories on a further 600 batches.
The batch of noodles originally tested by the authorities in India, which was found to unsafe levels of lead, was not sold in the UK.
However, the FSA confirmed that it is working with Nestlé UK and the European Commission to investigate a report of higher than expected levels of lead and MSG in noodles.
Nestlé UK revealed that it does import the masala flavour ‘Maggi 2 Minute Noodles’ from India, but all other Maggi noodles flavours are imported by Nestlé UK from factories in other countries.
While Maggi Noodles are available in the UK, they are not part of the Nestlé Professional product range for the foodservice industry. They are stocked by retail outlets, such as supermarkets, in the UK.