FSSAI finds Nestle India low fat dairy whitener sample unsafe; company denies the charge

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said a sample of Nestle India's low fat dairy whitener was found unsafe and substandard in a food safety test. The sample was taken from a hotel in Delhi.

According to FSSAI, the sample was lifted from The Lalit hotel at Connaught Place in New Delhi, which is owned by Bharat Hotels Limited. The sample was found not to conform to the relevant food safety rules. The food analysts' report then recorded the product as Unsafe and Substandard.

After the laboratory report came in, FSSAI directed that sale of the product be stopped immediately. A notice has also been sent to Bharat Hotels Limited. The hotel management has been given a copy of the laboratory report and asked to take the necessary further action.

Under the food safety law, the business concerned has also been given the opportunity to appeal against the laboratory report within the stipulated time. For now, the action rests on this one sample taken in the inspection.

The information made public by FSSAI does not say which component of the product or which standard led to the sample being declared unsafe. Those details have not yet been released.

Nestle India, for its part, has said its product is safe. The company says the low fat dairy whitener complies with all applicable regulatory norms. It says phosphorus in the product is a nutrient found naturally in milk.

The company claims the laboratory report did not count the naturally occurring phosphorus of milk separately. According to it, total phosphorus was compared with the limit set for added phosphorus. Nestle has also said that talks are on with the authorities concerned and that the necessary information has been given to them.

There is thus a difference at present between the regulator's finding and the company's position.