Nestle looks to restart Maggi production at Goa plant

Days after Gujarat and Karnataka lifted the ban on Maggi noodles, Nestle India Ltd said it has cleared the mandated tests at three government laboratories in Goa as well and is set to commence production of variants of Maggi instant noodles at its Maulinguem, Bicholim plant in Goa.

The sale of the popular snack in the state will, however, kick-off when the freshly-manufactured products also get a green signal from the designated labs.

Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar today said that his government was examining the issue.

"We are examining the issue," he told reporters on the sidelines of a media event in Panaji.

Nestle claims to have received test results of all the 90 samples, covering six variants, from these laboratories.

The tests have cleared the product of lead content above the permissible limits.

But, manufacture and sale of the product will start only after the newly-manufactured products are cleared by the three labs.

While Nestle was positive that Maggi noodles will soon be on the shelves across the state, the company was, however, not certain when, since the procedures involved engaging with the various authorities and stakeholders to activate the process.

''Re-starting the manufacturing process and bringing Maggi noodles to the market is a process that requires alignment with several stakeholders, including our suppliers, distributors and retailers among others, and we would not like to provide a specific date,'' he added.

At the time when the company stopped production and sale of Maggi noodles in the state, the Bicholim plant was manufacturing Maggi Masala Noodles, Maggi Veg Atta Noodles and Maggi Chicken Noodles.

Nestle had also engaged over 500 contractual workers before production stopped at the Bicholim plant in June.

Nestle is likely to reengage the service providers who in turn will recall the employees to resume production.

While Maggi noodles were banned across the country since June (See: FSSAI asks Nestle India to recall all 9 "unsafe" noodle varieties), following charges of excessive traces of lead and MSG, Goa was one of the few states, where the product initially tested negative for the two substances in two separate tests, which were conducted in Panaji.