The Bombay High Court has reportedly dismissed Nestle's request for a stay on the ban on the sale of Maggi noodles in India.
According to a report from The Press Trust of India today (12 June), the court rejected Nestle's bid to overturn the nationwide ban on nine variants of noodles.
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The news agency said the court had ruled there was no need to overturn the ban as the noodles were already being withdrawn from stores.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India last week banned the noodles after claiming tests found the products contained lead above permissible levels.
The move came after a number of Indian states had introduced their own bans. The affair broke in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where local officials claimed to have detected lead above permissible levels and found MSG in the noodles during routine testing.
Nestle had already started to recall its Maggi noodles from the market before the FSSAI introduced the nationwide ban, saying "unfounded concerns" had led to "an environment of confusion for the consumer".
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By GlobalDataHowever, the food giant insisted its products were safe, insisting its own and third-party tests had shown the level of lead in the noodles was met regulations. It has also said it does not add MSG to its noodles in India.
The Bombay High Court has ordered India's central government and state officials in Maharashtra to file affadavits in reply to Nestle's appeal within two weeks. The court said the affadavits would have set out the reasons for the ban.
The next hearing will be on 30 June, the agency said.
Nestle had not returned a request for comment from just-food at the time of publication.
