MAGGI noodles; marketed by Nestle India in Bangladesh as elsewhere in global markets is highly contaminated with MSG (monosodium glutamate) and above the permissible levels of lead; which are critically harmful to human health. The Indian central government has banned the marketing of Maggi noodles yesterday in the Indian market as TV reports said on Friday. It is important for Bangladesh government now to take similar actions forthwith in public interest. Maggi noodles are popular food items widely consumed in Bangladesh and it appears to be a bigger health risk that needs to be quickly addressed. Most Indian states and even big retailers worldwide have already withdrawn the product from their shelves. But its sale in Bangladesh is continuing irrespective of the health hazards and the authorities must not waste anymore time to remove the health menace. India’s Central Food Safety Regulator earlier ordered a recall of all nine approved variants of Maggi instant noodles from the market terming it as ‘unsafe and hazardous’, according to media reports published in India over the past week. The state government of Gujarat, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir earlier banned Maggi’s marketing while several other states have called for further laboratory tests. Public were initially hit by the health anxiety after a batch of Maggi noodles was found contaminated with high dose of chemicals in a town in Uttar Pradesh. The banning of its marketing by the above mentioned Indian state governments later further verified the risks. Trade information suggests that India’s Nestle has the highest volume sales of Maggi noodles in the world market while its domestic sales alone contribute the highest revenue, more than any other single product, to the Indian exchequer. Due to the current situation many retailers from neighbourhood shops to larger ones like Big Bazaar and WalMart withdrew Maggi from their shelves from early this month. The fact that the contamination is at an alarming level is a highly critical to human health. The Indian central government being well aware of the situation initially permitted the state governments to protect their citizens and now it has finally banned the product from the market. People watching the development in Bangladesh believe the government would act accordingly to protect our own people. Not only Nestle, other Indian multinationals like Unilever are also exploiting Bangladesh market without ensuring the minimum quality of the products. Companies marketing products from toiletries to kitchen items are just packaging the produce here while buyers have hardly any opportunity to know whether they using safe products. It is advisable that the government must take initiative to check the quality of other products marketed here by Indian multinationals and others to make sure that they are not injurious to public health. There can’t be any compromise as far as it goes to public health.
