India Just Sued Nestlé For $100 Million Over Unsafe Levels Of Lead In Noodles

After a lengthy food safety scandal, the Indian government has announced that it will sue Nestlé for $100 million in response to the discovery of unsafe levels of lead in the popular Maggi noodles, produced by Nestlé. India's National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission will be suing the international corporation for 6.4 million rupees ($98.6 million USD) for damages, according to Al Jazeera.

In April, lab tests found that the noodles contained higher amounts of lead than are legally allowed in India as well as traces of MSG, which is not mentioned in the product's ingredients. Nestlé has responded by challenging the claim, saying that the noodles were not "intended to mislead customers," and claiming that there is no MSG in the product.

"We have a stringent program to test the ingredients that go to make MAGGI Noodles," Nestlé said in a statement. "In recent months, we had over 2,700 samples of MAGGI Noodles tested by several accredited laboratories both in India and abroad. Each one of these tests have shown lead to be far below the permissible limits.... Nestlé is a responsible company which has been in the service of consumers in India for over 103 years and has always provided quality and safe products."

Nestlé India said that the company has destroyed $50 million worth of the noodles following the ban. Maggi noodles were the best-selling Nestlé product in India.