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India seeks damages from Nestlé

August 12, 2015

India’s consumer affairs department has filed a complaint against Nestlé accusing the Swiss company of "unfair trade practices" with regard to Maggi noodles that were banned by New Delhi for health concerns.

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Symbolbild Maggi Nudeln
Image: picture alliance/Ann/THE STAR

The government in New Delhi announced Wednesday it had filed a suit with the National Consumer Redressal Commission (NCDRC) for 6,400 million rupees (88.8 million euros, $98.6 million) in damages from the India unit of Swiss food giant Nestlé.

G. Gurcharan, Additional Secretary at India's Ministry of Consumer Affairs told the news agency AFP that the complaint was for "unfair trade practices," adding that the court would now issue Nestle notice to hear their response.

He also said India had moved to impose 18 percent interest on the damages until Nestlé makes the payment.

Indian officials accuse Nestlé of attempting to make a misleading association between the noodles and health with advertising slogans such as 'Health is enjoyable.' They also allege Nestlé falsely represented a product called Maggi Oat Noodles as approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), when it was not.

The Indian government is targeting Nestlé's hugely popular instant noodles brand Maggi, which it banned in early June for allegedly containing high amounts of lead. Nestlé insists the product was safe for consumption but removed it from shelves across India nonetheless. It is challenging the ban in the Mumbai High Court.

Food safety authorities in the UK, Singapore, Australia and Canada have all said that the noodles are safe to consume, but the Indian government has questioned the validity of those findings.

Nestlé India said in a statement that it had not yet received an official notice of the damage claims. "Our current knowledge on this issue is only basis media reports," the statement said. "We shall be able to provide substantive response after we receive the official papers."

uhe/ng (AFP, Reuters)