Unilever has halted production of its Knorr-branded Chinese instant noodles for the Indian market and has started a recall because the product was launched without approval from the country's food safety regulator.
A spokesperson for the company's local unit, Hindustan Unilever, told just-food the product had been awaiting approval from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India since February.
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"[Unilever] has decided to stop production and sale of its Chinese range of instant noodles until such time as its application is approved by FSSAI. Hindustan Unilever is initiating a withdrawal of its Chinese instant noodles from the market," the spokesperson said.
The recall comes in the wake of a food safety scandal involving Nestle's Maggi noodles. Routine testing by food safety regulators detected elevated levels of lead, as well as the unlabelled ingredient MSG, in Maggi noodles. Nestle initiated a full product recall. However, Nestle said that its own tests as well as those carried out by an independent laboratory found permissible lead levels.
The Indian authorities have since initiated a crackdown on products that fail to comply with regulations. The FSSAI has required state food safety agencies to test instant noodles produced by various different companies for lead.
The Unilever spokesperson stressed that the recall is not linked to any food safety or quality issues.
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By GlobalData"The discontinuance of manufacturing and sale of Chinese instant noodles is not on account of any safety or quality concerns. All food products of Hindustan Unilever, including its Chinese range of instant noodles, abide by the highest quality standards and are safe for consumption. Hindustan Unilever follows a strict quality management system and regularly monitors products for compliance to regulations," the spokesperson insisted.
"We have conducted additional testing of our Chinese instant noodles range of products from an external FSSAI approved laboratory. All these tests show that the Chinese instant noodles range of products are safe for consumption and continue to meet all regulatory norms."
