Maggi Makers Fined Rs 45 Lakh In UP District Over "Contaminated" Samples

Lucknow: Nestle India Limited, the makers of Maggi instant noodles, has been fined Rs 45 lakh by the district administration in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur over what the administration claimed was contamination of samples. The administration also said Nestle distributors in the region have been fined Rs 17 lakh, taking the total penalty to Rs 62 lakh including the amount Nestle India Limited has been asked to pay.

The company said it has not received the order to pay the fine yet, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The fine is based on Maggi samples collected by the district administration in 2015 from several distributors of the instant noodles in Shahjahanpur. District officials familiar with the matter said a test of those samples at a state government laboratory found they were contaminated.

The district administration said that after hearing representations from Nestle officials and distributors for the next one-and-a-half years since the samples were taken, it decided to impose the fine.

Nestle said it would file an appeal once it receives the order. "This appears to be a case of application of incorrect standards, and we will file an appeal urgently once we receive the order," a Nestle spokesperson said.

In June 2015, the food regulator FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles, saying the product was "unsafe and hazardous" for consumption after finding lead levels beyond permissible limits.

Nestle had relaunched Maggi noodles in the market in November 2015 after fulfilling conditions set by the Bombay High Court which lifted the ban imposed by the FSSAI.

With inputs from PTI