Domestic major ITC today said it had not received any notice from authorities about the safety of its Sunfeast Yippee Noodles.
The denial follows reports that alleged the Uttar Pradesh Food and Drug Authority in Aligarh had found the company’s instant noodles packets had lead in excess of the permissible limits.
The BSE had sought a clarification from the company about the media reports.
The declaration of confidence in the safety of all Yippee products came on a day when ITC ran advertisements in a number of national dailies assuring customers that Yippee Noodles were safe to consume.
In a response to BusinessLine , a company spokesperson said, “ITC would like to assure its consumers that it has carried out tests of more than 800 samples of Sunfeast Yippee Noodles both internally and externally at NABL-accredited FSSAI-approved laboratories in India and international laboratories in Italy, Singapore and Japan, and have found that the lead content in all the samples was either not detected, or was much below the prescribed limits under the Food Safety Regulations.”
It said these 800 samples included batches that have been picked by authorities across 24 States in the country. The company has also posted the test results on its website and said that it has put videos sharing its manufacturing and testing process.
“We would also like to highlight that the Bombay High Court in the case against FSSAI and others, in its August 13 order has held that test reports by laboratories that do not have NABL accreditation should not be relied on. In this case, we are not aware if UP FDA has tested the alleged samples in NABL-accredited laboratories,” the company said, adding that samples have been tested by the company in multiple NABL-accredited and FSSAI approved labs.
When contacted, Chandan Pandey, designated officer of UPFDA at Aligarh told BusinessLine that he will be recommending to the Commissioner for future course of action and said that a notice has been sent to the distributor.
He said if the company is not satisfied with the test results, they have an opportunity to appeal for retests done at a referral or higher lab.
An ITC statement said, “We would request that the law take its course and news be based on facts.”