The great Maggi con job: How their ads have been fooling you for years

[OneGrimPilgrim]

What about the fruits they sell on platforms?

Most people consume them .

and veggies. even from superstores. even the traditional foods you wrote of about above (BTW, is that the pic of ragi soup or something? or something mixed in milk?), they require ingredients that we dont know how have they been treated/grown. risk's everywhere and perhaps at an all-time high these days. better would be to take precautions as & when possible (& often), and restrict your wants.

 

[DingDong]

I was just wondering whether some sort of Geopolitics is at play behind this Maggi mess.

 

[OneGrimPilgrim]

OT, but revelations on HUL poisoning waters of a village (near Kodaikanal i think):

http://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/38heyu/help_ideas_needed_hll_poisoned_my_village_with/

 

[Illusive]

I hope they bring down the msg level to acceptable level and why would they even add lead.

 

[pmaitra]

Am I the only one who eat this kind of thing?

We should eat more of our traditional foods.

What is it? Gram flour mixed with water? Chocolate powder mixed with water? Complan?

 

[Mad Indian]

Am I the only one who eat this kind of thing?

We should eat more of our traditional foods.

Is that "kool?(in Tamil)" I eat that yes, but its not any more healthy than rice

 

[Mad Indian]

What is it? Gram flour mixed with water? Chocolate powder mixed with water? Complan?

Indians consume lot less oil than westerners. What we do consume more is the carbohydrates which gets converted into fat eventually if consumed more than needed

 

[Mad Indian]

Centre pulls plug on Maggi in first recall of food item in India

The Maggi imbroglio escalated to an unprecedented level on Friday, with India's food regulator ordering a total recall of all nine variants of the best-selling instant noodles brand. This is the first ever recall of a popular food product in India.

The dispute has placed the processed food industry, regulators, government, and even consumers in uncharted territory.

The Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) which is entrusted with ensuring that all food in India is safe, issued an eight-page statement pointing out three "major" violations by Nestle, and kept options open for prosecution on these counts under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.

The violations are — presence of lead in the product in excess of the maximum permissible levels of 2.5 parts per million (ppm), misleading consumers by printing "No added MSG" on the Maggi packets and release of Maggi Oats Masala Noodles without risk assessment and grant of product approval.

Simultaneously, Maggi producer Nestle India, which controls over 60% of the instant noodles market in the country, announced a Maggi withdrawal from the shelves "despite it being safe" and only because of "unfounded concerns" and "an environment of confusion for the consumer".

A high level Nestle delegation, led by its global CEO, met FSSAI officials at their Delhi headquarters on Thursday and disputed the claims about lead being found in the product, the MSG content and the Maggi oats noodles issue. The FSSAI rebutted each of these arguments in detail.

According to Nestle, Maggi noodles packs contain a tastemaker sachet and the noodles cake. Both parts put together should be tested for lead levels, not separately. FSSAI has rejected this and said that they will test the product as it is sold — in two parts — not as it is processed by the consumer.

"Standards have to be applied in respect of each of these two components independently and have no linkage with the processing of the end product as it is consumed", it said.


Experts believe this is a grey zone with no clear law. A higher lead content of the tastemaker will get diluted and fall below the permitted level when mixed with the noodles cake. But the FSSAI argued that consumers are going to add water while making Maggi so should they start taking the water also into consideration?

Giving details of lead tests from various states, FSSAI said that in Delhi, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, lead levels were found to be higher than that permissible. It said that Nestle had claimed in 2012 that lead levels were just 0.0153ppm in its noodles. Now tests were indicating levels as high as 17.2ppm which is dangerously high. The FSSAI also said that reports from certain other states were not in the desired format and hence they had been sent back for clarification.

Dismissing Nestle's claim regarding the advisory "No added MSG" printed on Maggi packs, the FSSAI said that rules require that no additional information than required by law should be given on packages so that consumers are not confused. It quoted from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) document saying that many food items contain glutamate in natural form (like cereals) and it is not correct to declare that there is no added MSG when such products are being added. This, according to FSSAI, is misleading the consumers.


Noodle trap: 'Just tip of the iceberg'

On the Maggi oats noodles issue, the FSSAI strongly came down on Nestle, saying that they launched a new product without going through the due process of risk assessment and approval, violating the law.

So, what happens now? The FSSAI has called upon Nestle to "re-ascertain the safety of its products" as per the law. It has also told Nestle to show cause within 15 days as to why permission to produce Maggi noodles should not be withdrawn. Nestle has been asked to report to the FSSAI on a daily basis, the withdrawal of Maggi from India.

As indicated by the regulator, food safety commissioners in states are free to launch prosecutions against Nestle for violation of the law on various counts. So, Nestle appears to be heading for a tough time in the coming days.

Wow. Just wow. If this is the reason behind the ban, the ban is completely stupid. This is why I don't trust these half baked morons in bureaucracy who decide on some half baked article on what is good for health

 

[pmaitra]

What is it? Gram flour mixed with water? Chocolate powder mixed with water? Complan?

Indians consume lot less oil than westerners. What we do consume more is the carbohydrates which gets converted into fat eventually if consumed more than needed

Did you even read what you quoted and responded to? Check this out. I said it, and you immediately provided evidence.

 

[Shirman]

hell i am eating Maggi right now.........:biggrin2:

 

[jackprince]

Wow. Just wow. If this is the reason behind the ban, the ban is completely stupid. This is why I don't trust these half baked morons in bureaucracy who decide on some half baked article on what is good for health

1. A taste maker sold inside the pack without clearances.
2. The presence of MSG and Lead more than permissible level.
3. A complete product launched without clearance.

Are these not enough reason?
When did it become the rule that if others are doing the wrong thing and one gets caught, the one is let go because others are doing the same thing. I don't see you asking for letting loose the corrupt officials, as we all KNOW that those who are caught are not the only one!

There must be a starting point for sending message to all the producers of food-stuff at least that not every chalta hai to go on any longer. Or aren't you interested in it?

When pressed, the producers will themselves find out ways and collaborate with farmers to procure raw materials which are either not contaminated or less contaminated or some process will be installed to purify the raw material prior to usage.

After all, it billions of dollars market. If one is reluctant to invest for rules, some or other would not hesitate to invest as required. But, ultimately it is the Indians who will benefit.

 

[Illusive]

If big corporations don't have fear of govt actions on unethical practices, then they'll keep scamming people. This will help corporation not lying to public about their products and also making sure that the food is not poisonous for consumption.

 

[Mad Indian]

1. A taste maker sold inside the pack without clearances.
2. The presence of MSG and Lead more than permissible level.
3. A complete product launched without clearance.

Are these not enough reason?
When did it become the rule that if others are doing the wrong thing and one gets caught, the one is let go because others are doing the same thing. I don't see you asking for letting loose the corrupt officials, as we all KNOW that those who are caught are not the only one!

There must be a starting point for sending message to all the producers of food-stuff at least that not every chalta hai to go on any longer. Or aren't you interested in it?

When pressed, the producers will themselves find out ways and collaborate with farmers to procure raw materials which are either not contaminated or less contaminated or some process will be installed to purify the raw material prior to usage.

After all, it billions of dollars market. If one is reluctant to invest for rules, some or other would not hesitate to invest as required. But, ultimately it is the Indians who will benefit.

See you have assumed guilt without due process.

The Nestle's argument is very valid. The lead content is supposed to be "so and so " for safe consumption. So after the noodles is prepared, you have to check the lead content and if that fails , then you have a case, but that is not so here.

And I dont understand where this myth of MSG came from. I used to believe it before I came to know its chemical composition, I realised how BS the MSG being harmful is.

Mono sodium glutamate is a a sodium salt of the glutamic acid . Glutamic acid is a amino acid needed for our body to grow and is present in the body as a part of lot of proteins and enzymes and will be manufacture invivo in the body even if you dont take it. And if you take it in excess, it just gets converted into "glucose" by gluconeogenesis. If this is the standard of the bureaucrats who certify the safety of the products, i know how much salt I must take when reading their conclusions and apprehensions

 

[Mad Indian]

If big corporations don't have fear of govt actions on unethical practices, then they'll keep scamming people. This will help corporation not lying to public about their products and also making sure that the food is not poisonous for consumption.

And wrong actions against big firms to scare them is ok?

 

[Mad Indian]

Did you even read what you quoted and responded to? Check this out. I said it, and you immediately provided evidence.

Oh sorry. I meant to reply to your point that Indians consume too much oil. I just quoted the wrong post by mistake

 

[Illusive]

And wrong actions against big firms to scare them is ok?

How come the action is wrong if the entity breaking the rules have proven to be giving false advertisement, complete disregard for clearance from the relevant authority to launch new product and finding poisonous substance in their food.
You think these felony doesn't deserve strict actions

People respect law when law is allowed to take it course of action.

 

[angeldude13]

They can't ban maggi.
They have no right to ban maggi.
If the ban is not lifted soon I will do Amaran Anshan on jantar mantar

 

[Mad Indian]

How come the action is wrong if the entity breaking the rules have proven to be giving false advertisement, complete disregard for clearance from the relevant authority to launch new product and finding poisonous substance in their food.
You think these felony doesn't deserve strict actions

People respect law when law is allowed to take it course of action.

Again you are missing the context of what I said. We cant go around banning firms just to scare big firms.

And did you read the report? The maggi noodles after preparation into food actually had the lead levels well within the permissible level as set by the government. No one is going to eat the taste maker(which in essense is a very concentrated masala and hence will bound to have high concentration of elements) alone and so pointing it to say that it does not fall within the permissible level is retarded.

For an analogy - lets say govt tomorrow decides to set a similar analogy for "how much chilli" Food item should have. So if thje tastemaker , which is the concentrated masala essense, WILL have a high chilli quotient and will be eligible for the ban. But if the tastemaker does comply with such a rule, then when noodles are prepared, the chilli content will be very low and it will taste awefull


Another line of reasoning on why this is retarded - lets say the same amount of lead is present in the noodles proper and not in the tastemaker - Now given the data, the noodles' lead content will be well within the permissible levels as stipulated by the Govt and so the govt will have no legal ground whatsoever for the ban! Si tell me, what difference does it make in this scenerio, considering that the total amount of lead we take in the end will be the same be it concentrated in tastemaker (as is the case now) or be it diluted in the noodles(which wont be eligible for ban by present standard anyway) ?

@jackprince

 

[Ancient Indian]

What is it? Gram flour mixed with water? Chocolate powder mixed with water? Complan?

Is that "kool?(in Tamil)" I eat that yes, but its not any more healthy than rice

It is made from finger millet flour (I don't know correct word for that)

They make these in rural areas.

When I was at my grandpa house, they used to feed that to me.

link for the recipe
http://indianhealthyrecipes.com/ragi-malt-ragi-java-recipe-ragi-recipes/

 

[Ancient Indian]

and veggies. even from superstores. even the traditional foods you wrote of about above (BTW, is that the pic of ragi soup or something? or something mixed in milk?), they require ingredients that we dont know how have they been treated/grown. risk's everywhere and perhaps at an all-time high these days. better would be to take precautions as & when possible (& often), and restrict your wants.

I give link to that recipe in previous post.