Nestle India Ltd said on Friday it will soon resume making Maggi after receiving the green signal from all three laboratories that tested the instant noodles brand as mandated by the Bombay High Court.
The local unit of the Swiss food giant had withdrawn the popular brand from the market after the Indian government banned Maggi in June citing health concerns. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said at the time that samples tested by its labs found that Maggi contained lead higher than the permissible limit.
Nestle maintained that the product was safe for consumption and had challenged the ban in the Bombay High Court. In August, the court lifted the nation-wide ban and ordered a fresh test of samples to be conducted in three independent labs.
The company said in a statement on Friday that all 90 samples of its six variants tested by the court-mandated laboratories were cleared. It added that the company itself conducted more than 3,500 tests representing over 200 million packs in both national- and international-accredited laboratories and that all reports were clear.
Nestle India will start selling only after the the designated three laboratories clear the newly manufactured products, it said. The company added that it will continue to work with the food regulator in this regard.
Maggi's withdrawal had hurt Nestle India's earnings. The company incurred a one-time loss of Rs 451.7 crore due to the recall. Its total income for the April-June quarter fell 19.5 per cent to Rs 1,957 crore from Rs 2,432 crore a year earlier. The company posted a net loss of Rs 64 crore during the quarter, compared with a profit of Rs 288 crore a year earlier.
News of Nestle resuming Maggi production boosted the company's shares 5.6 per cent to Rs 6,551 apiece in a Mumbai market that gained 0.8 per cent. The shares have risen almost 20 per cent after falling to a one-year low of Rs 5,499 on June 8, the first day of trading after Maggi was banned.
