Instant food and beverage makers review product safety following Maggi furore

Sisir Pradhan | The Dollar Business

Many instant food and beverage makers in the country are in self-assessment mode, since Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a statutory notification on June 5, 2015 on Nestle India. The notification said that Nestle India has released its Maggie Oats Masala Noodles with Tastemaker in the market, without having due risk and safety assessment of the product from the food safety regulatory body. While Kolkata-based ITC Ltd has issued a public notice that its Sunfeast Yippee noodles are safe for consumption on June 12, global coffee major Starbucks has gone a step ahead and has voluntarily stopped use of some ingredients till it gets clearance from the regulatory authority. Avani Davda, CEO, Tata Starbucks Private Limited in a press release has said that Tata Starbucks is diligently working with the FSSAI to provide technical information relating to the company’s pending ingredient applications that the regulatory body has requested. She further added that in line with the FSSAI guidelines, while the company finalises the documentation necessary to complete these applications, and has initiated the suspension of applicable ingredients from certain products served in our stores. Starbucks has entered into Indian market in October 2012 and the company operates coffee stores across the country under Tata Starbucks Limited, a (50:50) joint venture with Tata Global Beverages Limited. An e-mail query to Tata Starbucks Limited regarding details about the ingredient applications that is pending with FSSAI for clearance and, which of the ingredients that have been approved by the food safety regulatory authority remained unanswered till this report went to publish. Similarly, FSSAI officials also declined to comments on the matter. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Maggi noodle is not one of an instance when a company has released some product in the market without taking safety approval. Market insiders say in many cases food and beverage makers apply for food safety approval, however release the products in the market before getting a formal approval from FSSAI or continue to sell products even after expiry of NOC date. Following the Maggi fiasco not only Nestle suffered loses but the way the entire matter was handled consumers in general are now apprehensive of noodles even by any other brands as well. Meanwhile, Ramesh Rajah, member, Coffee Board of India told The Dollar Business that the announcement by Starbucks will not affect coffee consumption much. However, Rajah further said, “We have not received the full details (about the ingredients) yet from Tata Starbucks. From what we know, the issue is not with coffee but some of the additives that they use to flavour the coffee. This is used by them worldwide but as a measure of precaution they would like to get prior permission from FSSAI. There is no real clarity on this. This should not in any way affect regular coffee consumption in the short-term but could hurt innovation in trying to introduce newer tastes and beverages to suit the younger palate.” In recent times celebrity endorsements have also drawn flak following the alleged finding of lead in Maggi noodle. Since last month, energy drinks like Tzinga, Monster, Cloud 9, and Akoaroma Flavour water, and some nutritional products by Amway have been directed to be recalled from market. More recently, cricketer Rohit Sharma endorsed Restless Energy Drink has also been ordered by the food safety regulatory authority to be recalled as the NOC issued to the beverage has expired on December 15, 2014. Moreover, the drink also contains irrational combination of caffeine and ginseng, an herbal substance that stimulates nervous system.  

June 16, 2015 | 05:48 pm IST.