Maggi to Get Banned: Will You Fight to Save the Guilty Noodle?

Through expensive ad campaigns and celebrity endorsements, Nestle has for many years, been on a mission to convince the world that its Maggi, indeed is a healthy snack. It has claimed Maggi to contain the goodness of protein and fibre and has even introduced healthy sounding flavours like Vegetable and Oats Maggi, to convince us of its virtue. But we never really did believe it, did we?

As a nation, we are addicted to this 2-minute snack and consume it in massive quantities daily. But at least we don’t live in the illusion of it being healthy. It’s simply the taste, the availability and the habit of this snack that makes dig into it again and again.  And if we agree to this, then how far are we ready to take our habit, before it starts harming us?

This is a question that we all need to ask ourselves today, in the wake of recent revelations by Lucknow Food Security and Drug Administration. They have brought out test results of Maggi samples that show excess levels of Lead and Monosodium Glutamate, and have demanded a cancellation of Maggi’s license in India, followed by a nationwide ban.

Meanwhile, Nestle is reacting to this accusation by asserting that it does not add MSG to Maggi, and any found in samples might have come from natural sources. It is also expressing utter surprise on  the high lead content found in the samples and is maintaining its stance that Maggi noodles conform to all applicable food laws and regulations in India.

The FSDA, on the other hand, is claiming that its test results show Maggi containing 17 parts per million lead, whereas the permissible limit is 0.01ppm.

The government is now waiting for a detailed report on the same from UP, before taking any measures. Meanwhile, social media has gone abuzz with reports of Maggi being banned and people are voicing their inability to give up the habit and addiction of Maggi. In case our favourite Maggi is convicted, we will be left with three choices:

1. To cowardly, let our habit and complacence walk us into an unhealthy life.

2. To knowingly, pass on this unhealthy lifestyle to the coming generations.

3. Or to courageously, give up a habit that’s slowly, but definitely harming us.

The choice is ours to make.