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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has slapped a notice to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved, asking why was the noodles launched without securing a permission from the food regulator.
The food regulator has asked Patanjali to respond within 15 days.
Meanwhile, Patanjali has reiterated that it has the license to sell noodles.
Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali on Wednesday said it has followed all the guidelines and regulations of the Food Safety and Regulatory Authority of India (FSSAI) in the launch of its “atta” instant noodles and other products.
“We have followed all rules and guidelines by the FSSAI. We have not disobeyed any of them,” said S.K. Tijarawala, spokesperson for Patanjali.
“The FSSAI has given us the licence of re-labelling under pasta category and on basis of which we have given contract to various companies to make noodles (for us),” he said in the statement.
The remarks come in the wake of a top FSSAI official claiming that Patanjali’s instant noodles was launched without its product approval. The authority’s chairman Ashish Bahuguna has also been quoted as saying that product approval for pasta cannot apply to noodles.
The chairman, however, was not available for comment. Following persistent calls, his office told an IANS correspondent that the chairman “cannot respond to individual queries” and that he had said what he wanted to.
The authority did not issue a statement either. But a set of questions was nevertheless forwarded over e-mail to the chairman’s office on the subject.
Tijarawala said Patanjali had taken a product licence for pasta under the “central category” and that noodles, accordingly, fell under that.
Forwarding some documents to IANS purportedly from the food safety authority Tijarawala alluded that by virtue of Licence Number 10014012000266, renewed on October 15 this year and valid till February 21, 2019, a “modified licence” was also issued.
He said the pasta sold by Patanjali has already secured the modified licence; this also gave it the right to manufacture noodles as it was only a variant.
Patanjali had formally launched its wholewheat instant noodles on Monday.
