SRINAGAR : The Jammu and Kashmir Government has appealed to people not to consume Maggi noodles till further orders following reports that noodles are not safe for consumption.
However, Valley Citizen Council (VCC) general secretary Imdad Saqi expressed apprehension that this time too the authorities will declare Maggi fit for consumption without conducting any test as was done in 2008, when Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) had declared that there was no pig fat in the noodles without even taking samples for tests. Sale of magie was continued in the valley, including summer capital, Srinagar, as government had not banned the noodles so far.
An official spokesperson said Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CA&PD) Choudhary Zulfkar Ali had directed Directors of CA&PD Kashmir and Jammu to collect Maggi noodles samples randomly from different districts and send them for laboratory testing.
He called for completion of the process including providing results within 48 hours. The Minister gave these directions following allegations of lapses of food safety standards and presence of lead and other taste enhancing elements beyond permissible limits in Maggi various States.
“Protecting interests of consumers is our duty and we will not allow selling of any food items which are not fit for consumption,” the Minister said and appealed to the general public not to consume these noodles until satisfactory results were not achieved.
VCC General Secretary Mr Saqi told that he was doubtful about the sincerity of the authorities as was witnessed in 2008 when SMC declared the noodles fit for consuming without even conducting any tests.
Later, in reply to an RTI application the SMC said no samples of Maggi were collected so there was no question of conducting any tests. Mr Saqi, a journalist, said the Public Information Officer (PIO) of SMC had said as per report of Food Safety Officer of the Corporation, no such Maggi samples had been lifted during the year 2008 and no any such record is available in the office of Health officer. He said the application was filed on May 2, 2013, seeking information about how the SMC came to conclusion that Maggi is not containing any pig fat when even no sample of maggi was lifted which shows that no test was conducted.
The health officer of the SMC issued a notice in local newspapers on December 12, 2008 banning food products, including maggie containing pig fat since it was forbidden for muslims under religious doctrine.
The SMC said public in general and muslims in particular are cautioned through this notice against consuming kissan jam, maggi noodles and cadburys chocolates till report from the public analyst of these products is received. Mr Saqi said only after ten days on December 22,2008, the health officer of the SMC announced lifting of ban on food products, including maggi noodles, cadburys chocolates and kissan jam, claiming that 17 samples of maggi, 16 number of cadburys chocolate and one kissan jam were analysed in the public health laboratory Kashmir province, Srinagar.
The report said no content of pig fat had been detected or found in these samples. However, the PIO of the SMC in his reply to an RTI application on May 27,2013 confirmed that no sample was lifted during the year 2008. (AGENCIES)
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