Maggi

Maggi Bouillon gras

The bouillon cube or Maggi cube is a meat substitute product that was introduced in 1908.

In Germany, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Bénin, Gambia, Sénégal, Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Niger, and Mauritania and parts of the Middle East, Maggi cubes are an integral part of the local cuisine. In Haiti and throughout Latin America, Maggi products, especially bouillon cubes, are widely sold with some repackaging to reflect local terminology.[3] In the German, Dutch, and Danish languages, lovage has come to be known as Maggi herb (Ger. Maggikraut, Du. maggikruid or maggiplant, Da. maggiurt), because it tastes similar to Maggi sauce, although lovage is not present in the sauce.

Maggi advertisement in Senegal

In Romania, Mexico, German-speaking countries, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland and France, "Maggi" is still synonymous with Maggi-Würze (Maggi seasoning sauce), a dark, soy sauce-type hydrolysed vegetable protein-based condiment sauce. In Spain and Mexico, it is sold under the name Jugo Maggi.[4] There are a total of nine different formulations, which differ between nations and/or regions.

Boiled Maggi instant noodles with tea flavoured milk, served in India.

Maggi instant noodles are popular in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and India and are synonymous with instant noodles in most of these countries. Nestle has 39% market share in Malaysia,[5] and had 90% market share in India prior to a nationwide ban by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Following the ban, the market share was reduced to 53% in India.[6] In Malaysia and Singapore, fried noodles made from Maggi noodles are called Maggi goreng. Maggi Instant noodles are branded as "Maggi 2 Minute Noodles" in Australia, New Zealand[7] and India.[8]

In India, Maggi Masala noodles carry a green dot, meaning they are specifically formulated to serve vegetarians. However, Maggi chicken noodles carry a red dot, indicating that they are not vegetarian.[9] This special formulation is not available in other countries, unless imported from India.

In Philippines, localized versions of Maggi instant noodles were sold until 2011 when the product group was recalled for suspected salmonella contamination.[10][11] It didn't return to market, while Nestle continues to sell seasoning products including the popular Maggi Magic Sarap.

Recipe mixes or so called Fixes were introduced in Germany in 1974. The product offers to the consumers an idea and a recipe to cook with two or three fresh ingredients and a Maggi mix. A complete step-be-step recipe is given on the back of pack. Following the recipe guarantees the result. These products were originally launched in Germany, where they became very popular, and some Western European countries. In the 1990s, recipe mixes were introduced in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia and Poland (under the Winiary brand), where they became a big success. Nowadays, the portfolio of recipe mixes offer consumers more than 100 recipe ideas across different European countries.

• 3 June 2015 – The New Delhi Government banned the sale of Maggi in New Delhi stores for 15 days due to these findings.[17] First Information Reports (FIRs) against Bollywood Maggi Brand Ambassadors Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, and Preity Zinta were lodged by Sudhir Kumar Ojha, a lawyer, at Muzaffarpur district court, asking the authorities to arrest them if required. He complained that he fell sick after eating Maggi which he had purchased from a shop at Lenin Chowk on 30 May.[18]
• 4 June 2015 – The Gujarat FDA banned the noodles for 30 days after 27 out of 39 samples were detected with objectionable levels of metallic lead, among other things,[19] and Assam banned sale, distribution, and storage of Maggi's "extra delicious chicken noodles" variety for 30 days after tests carried out at the state public health laboratory concluded that the particular variety contained added an excessively high amount of lead.[20] On 4 June 2015 the government of Tamil Nadu banned Maggi foods due to an unacceptable amount of lead and other components.[21]
• 5 June 2015 – The Andhra Pradesh Government also banned Maggi foods.[22]
• Also on 5 June 2015, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)[23] ordered a recall of all nine approved variants of Maggi instant noodles and oats masala noodles, suggesting that they were unsafe and hazardous for human consumption.[24] On the same day, the Food Standards Agency of the United Kingdom launched an investigation into the level of lead in Maggi noodles.[25]
• 6 June 2015 – The Central Government of India banned nationwide sales of Maggi noodles for an indefinite period.[26]
• 26 June 2015 – During a press meeting, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare of Karnataka, U. T. Khader, stated that Maggi foods would not be banned.[27]
• July, 2015 – The Bombay High Court allowed the export of Maggi while the ban in India remained.[28]
• August 2015 – Tests performed by the US health regulator FDA showed no dangerous lead levels in the products.[29] On 13 August 2015, the nationwide ban was struck down by the Bombay high court.[30] The court stated that proper procedure was not followed in issuing the ban and called into question the test results, as the samples were not tested at authorized laboratories accredited to the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).[31]
• January 2019 - Maggi instant noodles were again under the scanner for lead content in the noodles.[32]

Some of India's biggest retailers (including Future Group's Big Bazaar, Easyday, and Nilgiris) imposed a nationwide ban on Maggi.[33] In addition, multiple state authorities in India found an unacceptable amount of lead, leading to bans in more than 5 other states.[34][35]

Nepal indefinitely banned Maggi over concerns about the lead levels in the product.[36] Maggi noodles were subsequently withdrawn from the market of five African nations: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Sudan.[37]

• Monosodium glutamate (MSG): Testing found some MSG in Maggi noodles. The packet stated "No added MSG"; however, MSG naturally occurs in hydrolyzed peanut protein, onion powder, and wheat flour. Maggi offered to remove the words "No added MSG" from the package to overcome the objection.[38]
• Lead: Maggi noodles include flavouring packets named "Tastemaker" which is intended to dissolve in water during cooking. Maggi insisted that testing should be done on the product as it is eaten, however, the FSSAI insisted that the powder itself should be tested. On 5 June, the FSSAI said that the prescribed standards of 2.5 parts per million would have to apply to all components of the product. Out of the 13 samples tested by Delhi authorities, 10 of them had lead content exceeding this limit. The packets that initiated the investigation from Uttar Pradesh had 17.2 ppm of lead.[39] Nestlé also questioned the reliability of the labs used. Results from testing outside of India (Singapore,[40] US[29]) reported that Maggi noodles were safe. In the later Bombay High Court judgment, the court agreed that the test results by earlier labs were unreliable. The court mandated testing to be done at three specific laboratories (Punjab, Hyderabad, and Jaipur) where Maggi was found safe.[41] The lead may have been naturally occurring in plants and soil[42] or from Indian spices, although within acceptable limits.[43]

Maggi always insisted that their noodle product is safe.[44] Maggi recalled stock worth nearly ₹320 crore (₹3.2 Billion) from the shelves and paid ₹20 crores (₹200 million) to a cement factory to burn the product. In addition, the Corporate Affairs Ministry of India imposed a ₹640 crore (₹6.4 Billion) fine on Nestle India for the presence of MSG and lead beyond the permissible limit.[45]

In India, Maggi products were returned to the shelves in November 2015,[46][47] accompanied by a Nestlé advertising campaign to win back the trust of members of the Indian community.[48] At this time, the "Maggi anthem" by Vir Das and Alien Chutney became popular.[49] Nestlé resumed production of Maggi at all five plants in India on 30 November 2015.[50][51]