Maggi effect: New regulations for noodles soon

In the wake of Maggi controversy, food safety regulator FSSAI is working on new regulations for quality standards of instant noodles to better regulate the quality of taste-maker and other ingredients.

The new regulations by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India is aimed at brining in more clarity in the quality standards, sources said.

This will be the first time that FSSAI would come up with quality standards specifically for instant noodles.

So far, there have been one common standard for various kinds of ready-to-cook products including noodles.

The new norms would clearly set the permissible limits of monosodium glutamate and Ash content and also state the specific standards for taste maker, a key ingredient in the instant noodles, sources said.

Earlier on April 1, the FSSAI had asked state authorities to launch proceedings against only those noodle or pasta companies that taste-enhancer monosodium glutamate in their products despite carrying 'No MSG' or 'No added MSG' label on the packets.

Glutamate is naturally found in some common foods such as milk, spices, wheat, vegetables, etc.

Presently there is no analytical method to determine whether MSG was added to the product during manufacturing or it was naturally present in the product. This can however be checked through inspection of manufacturing premises.

In June last year, FSSAI had banned Nestle's Maggi noodles over allegations of high lead content and presence of MSG.

The Bombay High Court however later lifted the nationwide ban imposed by Indian food regulators on Maggi noodles, and asked Nestle India to go for a fresh test of samples in three independent laboratories across India.

Nestle re-launched Maggi noodles in Indian markets in November 2015.

Image: Packets of Maggi noodles. Photograph: Reuters