Nestle resumes Maggi noodles production at all plants in India

Nestle had relaunched Maggi noodles on November 9 after a five-months ban

New Delhi:

Nestle India on Monday said it has resumed production of Maggi noodles at all five facilities in India.

Nestle, which relaunched Maggi noodles on November 9 after a five-months ban, has started production of Maggi noodles from its Tahliwal plant in Himachal Pradesh.

Nestle manufacturers Maggi noodles at its plants in Nanjangud (Karnataka), Moga (Punjab) Bicholim (Goa) and Tahliwal and Pantnagar in Himachal Pradesh.

"The company has resumed manufacturing of Maggi noodles at its Tahliwal (Himachal Pradesh) factory. With this, the company has resumed manufacture of Maggi noodles at all five noodle manufacturing facilities," Nestle said in a BSE filing.

Last week, the Swiss food major had started production of Maggi noodles from its fourth plant at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.

In June, FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles, saying it was "unsafe and hazardous" for consumption after finding lead content beyond permissible limits.

Nestle India, which took a hit of Rs 450 crore including destroying over 30,000 tonnes of the instant noodles since June when it was banned because of alleged excessive lead content, had stated that it would continue with the existing formula of the product and would not change the ingredients.

The Consumer Affairs Ministry had also filed a class action suit against Nestle India, seeking about Rs 640 crore in damages for alleged unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements.

It was for the first time that the Ministry dragged a company to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) using a provision in the nearly three-decade-old Consumer Protection Act.

Reeling under the Maggi ban, Nestle India had on October 29 reported 60.1 per cent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 124.20 crore for the third quarter ended September 2015.

Its net sales had declined 32.12 per cent to Rs 1,736.20 crore as against Rs 2,557.80 crore of the July–September quarter a year ago.

It had reported a standalone loss of Rs 64.40 crore in the second quarter (April-June) for the first time in last 15 years due to the ban on Maggi.