Nestle India has resumed production of Maggi noodles at all five facilities across India, the company said.
After facing a five-month ban, the company relaunched its popular brand of instant noodles on November 9, and has resumed its production 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.
In June, FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles, saying it was “unsafe and hazardous” for consumption after finding lead content beyond permissible limits.
Owing to the episode, Nestle India took a hit of Rs 450 crore. It had to destroy over 30,000 tonnes of the instant noodles since June when it was banned because of alleged excessive lead content.
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 labeling 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.
(With PTI inputs)