The man who helped spark one of India’s largest food recalls -- prompting Nestle SA’s top executive to rush to New Delhi last week -- says government authorities lack the resources for widespread inspections.
VK Pandey’s team in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, randomly picked about a dozen packs of Nestle’s Maggi instant noodles for a series of tests. The results showed that lead levels breached official limits, triggering a recall across a swathe of India and import bans in Nepal and Singapore.
“We would’ve sent more samples of Maggi, but we have a manpower shortage,” Pandey, an officer with Uttar Pradesh’s Food Safety and Drug Administration in Barabanki district, said by phone. “There’s been one vacancy open for three years.”
Nestle, whose local unit has seen its shares decline about 15 percent this month, said it will remove all instant noodles from Indian shelves to boost trust. Global Chief Executive Officer Paul Bulcke told reporters that the company tested more than 1,000 batches of noodles and found the India-produced Maggi to be “safe and well within the regulatory limits.”
“With the consumer in mind, we will do everything it takes, and are fully engaged with the authorities to clarify the situation to have Maggi noodles back on the shelves at the earliest,” Bulcke told reporters in New Delhi on June 5.
The crisis marks the highest profile case for India’s seven-year-old national food regulator and the patchwork of local agencies responsible for ensuring food is safe across the world’s second most populous country. While India has made progress on food safety, it has a long way to go.
No manpower
“The government should have a pan-India monitoring system across food categories, but it doesn’t,” said Amit Khurana, program manager for the food safety team at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi. “We hear it every time in the field: The state doesn’t have appropriate resources, there are a lot of vacancies, there’s no manpower, the infrastructure and labs need to be upgraded. The system is still evolving.”
Establishing a credible regulator is key for India to attract investment into food processing as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to spur a manufacturing boom. The food services market alone is growing at nearly 12 percent each year and will be worth $175 billion by 2018, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said in a 2013 report.
‘Unsafe’
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, known as the FSSAI, ordered a recall on June 5, calling samples of Maggi tested by various states “unsafe and hazardous for human consumption.” More than half of India’s 29 states have banned Maggi, according to reports from the Times of India newspaper over the past few days.
Nestle India’s shares fell again today on reports, including one in the Times of India, that Modi’s government will seek damages from Nestle in a case before its national consumer forum. The stock fell 5.1 percent as of 9:48 a.m. in Mumbai.
Multiple calls in the past few days to the office of Yudhvir Singh Malik, the FSSAI’s chief executive officer, weren’t answered. Neither were calls and an email to Rakesh Chandra Sharma, the food authority’s head of enforcement.
The FSSAI was established in 2008 after lawmakers streamlined a mishmash of laws dealing with adulteration, meat, fruit, oil and milk. Apart from framing rules and certifying laboratories, it advises on food safety and nutrition.
FDA collaboration
Enforcement of the rules is left to local authorities in states. There’s no real-time monitoring system such as that in the U.S., where the Food & Drug Administration helps to quickly identify, analyze and take action on any violation relating to food or medicines.
India is the seventh-largest provider of food to the U.S., according to the FDA. In March, the U.S. regulator signed an agreement with India to cooperate more on food safety.
“We left our meeting with FSSAI assured that we are on the same page with our Indian colleagues about our food safety goals, as well as the amount of work -- and collaboration -- needed to achieve them,” FDA officials wrote in a March blog post.
The Maggi incident started when Pandey’s team sent packs of the Nestle’s Maggi noodles for a routine lab test 14 months ago. The test came back positive for monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a chemical used to enhance savory flavors. Subsequent tests 750 miles away in Kolkata confirmed the MSG and reported excessive amounts of lead, about seven times the prescribed maximum.
Legal action
Pandey said his department filed a court case with information about the lead and MSG content to force the company to take action. Nestle disputed the findings in August, citing previous cases in other states as precedent, he said.
After continued tests, Pandey said state officials asked Nestle in April to pull Maggi from stores. That sparked widespread media coverage, criminal complaints against Maggi and criticism of its celebrity brand ambassadors.
“We are making all possible efforts to clarify matters,” Nestle India spokesman Himanshu Manglik said in a text message after receiving emailed questions regarding the timeline of the tests and India’s ability to ensure food safety.
Past food safety incidents in India involving Mondelez International Inc.’s Cadbury’s chocolates, Pepsico Inc. and Coca Cola Co. show that Nestle can recover. Those companies bounced back in a few years after initially seeing a drop in sales and profits, according to BNP Paribas.
“A scandal like this in some sense brings the problem to light,” Ashwin Bhadri, CEO of Equinox Labs, a Mumbai-based company that helps companies comply with food safety regulations. “If this hadn’t happened, nobody would be talking about food safety.”
Bloomberg
Mon Jun 08 2015
Nestle, whose local unit has seen its shares decline about 15 percent this month, said it will remove all instant noodles from Indian shelves to boost trust.
Teresa Kok terima kertas ugutan bunuh berserta peluru
Ahli Parlimen Seputeh, Teresa Kok menerima kertas ugutan bunuh bersaiz A4 bersama dua peluru yang diletakkan dalam peti surat di kediamannya.
Zii Jia juara Terbuka Thailand 2024
IMPIAN pemain perseorangan lelaki profesional negara, Lee Zii Jia untuk merangkul gelaran pertama tahun ini tercapai setelah dinobatkan sebagai juara Terbuka Thailand 2024 di Bangkok sebentar tadi.
Lelaki ceroboh, serang anggota di Balai Polis Dato' Keramat cuba rampas submesingan
Cubaan seorang lelaki merampas senjata submesingan jenis HK MP5 milik seorang anggota polis di Balai Dato' Keramat di sini, gagal selepas dia berjaya ditangkap pada pagi Ahad.
Hannah Yeoh ucap tahniah pelantikan Nicol David sebagai Pro-Canselor Heriot-Watt University Malaysia
Menteri Belia dan Sukan Hannah Yeoh merakamkan ucapan tahniah kepada Datuk Nicol David atas pelantikan ratu skuasy negara itu sebagai Pro-Canselor Heriot-Watt University Malaysia.
Serangan udara Israel bunuh 20 orang, cederakan puluhan awam di tengah Gaza
Sekurang-kurangnya 20 orang awam terbunuh dan beberapa yang lain cedera pada Sabtu malam dalam serangan udara ganas Israel yang menyasarkan sebuah kompleks kediaman di utara kem pelarian Nuseirat.
Fahmi kecam tindakan mengugut Teresa Kok
Menteri Komunikasi, Fahmi Fadzil menjelaskan Ahli Parlimen Seputeh, Teresa Kok telah membuat laporan polis berkaitan dakwaan menerima surat ancaman dan dua peluru.
Fahmi mengecam tindakan tersebut dan menyifatkannya cukup memalukan.
"Jangan diugut Ahli-ahli Parlimen kerana mereka adalah suara rakyat," jelasnya.
Fahmi mengecam tindakan tersebut dan menyifatkannya cukup memalukan.
"Jangan diugut Ahli-ahli Parlimen kerana mereka adalah suara rakyat," jelasnya.
OKU didakwa lakukan amang seksual terhadap remaja lelaki
Tertuduh didakwa melakukan perbuatan itu terhadap mangsa berusia 17 tahun di masjid berkenaan pada 2.30 petang, 15 Mac lepas.
Negara pesat membangun Asia Tengah berpotensi jadi rakan kerjasama strategik Malaysia - PM Anwar
Jaringan dengan negara-negara yang sedang pesat membangunkan itu amat penting dalam keadaan dunia yang tidak menentu hari ini.
Eksport mi segera Korea Selatan lepasi AS$100 juta buat julung kali dalam April - Kastam
Eksport mi segera atau "ramyeon" dalam Bahasa Korea mencecah AS$108.6 juta pada April, naik 46.8 peratus dari setahun sebelumnya.
Wai Ching takluk Menara Naza
Pelari menara nombor satu dunia itu jelas berada dalam kelas tersendiri sejak di awal saingan sebelum berjaya menawan menara setinggi 49 tingkat berkenaan.
12 terbunuh dipanah petir di Bengal Barat, India
Sekurang-kurangnya 12 orang terbunuh dan beberapa lagi mangsa cedera pada Khamis akibat dipanah petir di Bengal Barat, di timur India.
14 maut, puluhan cedera dalam runtuhan papan iklan di India
Sekurang-kurangnya 14 terbunuh dan berpuluh-puluh lagi cedera pada Isnin selepas papan iklan tumbang semasa cuaca buruk di ibu kota kewangan India, Mumbai.
Mahkamah Agung India bebaskan Ketua Menteri Delhi dengan jaminan sementara
Kejriwal ditahan Direktorat Penguatkuasaan pada 21 Mac berkaitan siasatan rasuah yang melibatkan dasar penjualan alkohol di Delhi.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
9 maut dalam letupan kilang bunga api di selatan India
Letupan berlaku berhampiran Sivakasi di daerah Virudhunagar, kira-kira 550 km dari ibu negeri Chennai.
KJ dilantik salah seorang pengarah di Fischer Medical Ventures Ltd
Khairy dilantik atas kapasiti Pengarah Bebas Syarikat untuk tempoh lima tahun bermula 4 Mei 2024.
Institusi pendidikan di Kerala, India ditutup susulan gelombang haba
Pihak kerajaan tempatan di negeri selatan India, Kerala pada Khamis mengarahkan penutupan institusi pendidikan di sana sehingga 6 Mei ini berikutan keadaan cuaca yang amat panas, lapor Xinhua.
PRK KKB: MIPP jamin PN akan terima undi terbesar kaum India
Punithan berkata, pihak lawan dilihat mula menunjukkan kebimbangan dan rasa takut dengan kekuatan yang dimiliki PN ketika ini.
Parti politik India perhebat dekati pengundi, bagi pusingan pertama pilihan raya kebangsaan
Modi berkata kerajaannya terus berusaha untuk pembangunan ekonomi wilayah timur laut itu.
Pakistan sambut Aidilfitri hari ini, Bangladesh dan India rai Khamis
Umat Islam di Pakistan dan Sri Lanka meraikan Aidilfitri pada Rabu manakala mereka yang berada di Bangladesh dan sebahagian besar India akan menyambut perayaan itu Khamis.