Sunfeast Yippee ban: ITC says not consulted, Gujarat FDCA contests view

A day after the Gujarat government banned Sunfeast Yippee noodles and Bambino macaroni in the state, ITC, maker of the former, said it was not informed or allowed to present its position on the matter.

"We would like to categorically state that the company has not received any communication from the state authorities regarding the levels of lead in Sunfeast Yippee noodles being higher than the permissible limit," an ITC statement said. "We are deeply pained that no opportunity was given to the company to explain its position as required by law."

This is the second time in a month when a packaged food company has said it was not informed or allowed to present its point of view before its product was banned.

The Indian subsidiary of Swiss major Nestlé had indicated the same when taking the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's apex food regulator, to court last month, saying the ban and recall of its instant noodle Maggi was arbitrary and against the practice of natural justice.

It is unclear whether ITC move court over the decision of the Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) of Gujarat to ban its noodles in the state.

When contacted, FDCA Commissioner HG Koshia said, "If we find a certain product is unfit for consumption we can ban its sale and distribution suo motu. We have already sent a communication to the company on the matter. No further sale or distribution of Sunfeast Yippee is to be allowed and company will have to withdraw the existing batches from the market."

According to Koshia, while checking various batches of noodles, the authority found certain samples of Yippee containing lead above the permissible limit. "Of the 133 samples of various brands of noodles tested, 33 failed the lead test. Of them, 28 samples were of Nestle's Maggi and the remaining of brands like Sunfeast Yippee and Bambino macaroni," he said.

Koshia added the proportion of lead in Sunfeast Yippee was higher than 3.4 particles per million (ppm). This was above the permissible limit of 2.5 ppm for lead, he said.

Denying this, ITC said it had carried out tests on 576 samples across 263 unique batches of Sunfeast Yippee in the recent past. Tests were conducted at FSSAI-approved laboratories in India as well as in Italy and Singapore.

"These tests have found that the lead content in all the samples was either not detected, or much below the prescribed limit under the food safety regulations. Given that such a large number of results undertaken in reputed laboratories in India and abroad have unanimously confirmed that the company's noodles are compliant with food safety regulations, it is surprising to find this allegation of higher lead content," the company added.