New Delhi, June 2: Kerala government Tuesday ordered pullout of Maggi noodles from its retail outlets while samples of the product in Haryana were lifted for testing even as a Bihar court ordered that an FIR be filed against its brand ambassadors Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta.
In more trouble for Nestle India, Kerala food and civil supplies minister Anoop Jacob’s office said an order had been issued to temporarily stop the distribution of Maggi noodles from its retail outlets in the state forthwith till there is clarity on the safety issue. Kerala state civil supplies corporation, also known as Supplyco, has around 1,400 outlets throughout the state.
The probe into alleged lapses of food safety standards has already been expanded to test Maggi noodle samples from across the country following detection of monosodium glutamate and lead in excess of the prescribed limit in the noodles.
However, Nestle India claimed it has got samples tested in an external laboratory as well as in-house and that the product was found “safe to eat”. In Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, additional chief judicial magistrate Ramchandra Prasad directed Kazi Mohammadpur police station to register the FIR against the two Nestle officials and the three stars and investigate the complaint.
The court also directed the police to effect arrest if required during the course of the investigation. The order came during the hearing of a case filed by lawyer Sudhir Kumar Ojha. PTI
