NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Nestle SA, battling a reputational crisis in India, pulled its Maggi instant noodles from stores across the country yesterday after regulators reported some packets contained excess lead.
After coming under fire for failing to react swiftly and decisively, Nestle bowed to pressure in the early hours of yesterday and announced an India-wide recall.
In an effort to quell India’s most significant food scare in nearly a decade, the Swiss food giant fielded group chief executive Paul Bulcke to calm consumers at a televised press conference. Instead, he faced a rowdy gathering where he was frequently shouted down by Indian reporters.
Adding to Nestle’s troubles, India’s food safety regulator issued a statement just as that meeting ended, accusing the food giant of violating labelling and other rules in India. It ordered a recall of the instant noodles it said were “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption.
“We are a company that lives on the trust of our consumers,” Bulcke told a packed news conference in New Delhi, repeating that it had protectively recalled the noodles to ease the minds of “shaken” consumers, but that there was no safety concern.
