Geneva--Nestle chief Paul Bulcke says he has drawn the lessons from India's shock ban on its Maggi instant noodles over a health scare and is now trying to salvage the image of the world's top food company.
Bulcke insisted that its hugely popular Maggi brand was 100 percent safe, saying that packaged food was unfairly fingered by many around the world as a health risk.
The Switzerland-based food giant's reputation took a bashing "because it's a big brand and that (ban) made a lot of waves," the Belgian chief executive told AFP in an interview.
India's food safety regulator on June 5 outlawed the product after it said tests showed the noodles contained excessive levels of lead.
The largest food company by revenues is challenging the order and is in the process of destroying more than 27,000 tonnes of Maggi noodles after halting production -- a Herculean task given India's size.
The ban had led to 3.2 billion rupees (44.5 million euros, $50.5 million) worth of goods being withdrawn, the company said.
Nestle had already announced it was pulling the product from sale when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India imposed a ban following similar moves by some state governments.
AFP
