Supreme Court: While hearing the appeal against the Order passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dated 9th and 10th December 2015, the division bench of Dipak Misra, and Prafulla C. Pant, J.J, directed that the samples of the product ‘Maggi Noodles’ collected by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission be sent to the laboratory at Mysore for testing and the test reports be produced before the Court.
Noted counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Nestle India contended that the Chennai laboratory is not fully equipped to carry out the necessary tests on the product as per the requirements of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 . However Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney General for India, resisted the aforesaid submission and contended that on consent being given by the appellant, the product has to be sent to Chennai . However in the course of the debate the parties reached a consensus on the fact that the primary concern is health and the test has to meet the parameters of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 therefore Mysore laboratory is well equipped for the purpose of testing the samples of the product ‘Maggi Noodles’.
The present Order assumes significance in the wake of the concerns raised by the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India upon the presence of hazarduous substances in the popular product ‘Maggi Noodles’. [Nestle India Ltd. v. Union of India, 2015 SCC Online SC 1328, decided on 16.12.2015]
