Pristine Organic's introduces a wide range of Millet Food Products

Superfood brand, Nourish You has recently appointed Divya Gursahani as its inaugural Chief Marketing and Communications Officer.

After the appointment, Nourish You will enhance its marketing and communication efforts with a specific focus on raising awareness about superfoods and their advantages.

"We welcome Divya as the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer to our growing team at Nourish You. We are certain that with her deep understanding of new age consumer insights and innovative approach to building digital and physical brand experiences, Nourish You will lead India's superfood growth story through interesting and relevant storytelling.” said,  Krishna Reddy, Co-Founder, Nourish You.

Additionally, the company aims to establish itself as the pioneering startup that introduced the concept of superfoods to Indian consumers.

Brand  has gained success in India by offering high-quality and innovative products such as Millet Milk, Breakfast and Meal Mixes, Specialty Flours, and Superseeds, which have disrupted the category.

Before joining Nourish You, Divya gained experience at By the Gram, a content studio, as well as prominent media organizations such as ELLE and DNA.

Throughout her career, she played a vital role in creating campaigns for notable brands like Netflix, Amazon, Apollo, Bumble, Tata CLiQ, and Nykaa in various capacities.

“I am honoured to contribute to a brand that embodies such strong values and has established itself as a frontrunner in the superfood industry, with an exceptional growth trajectory. I look forward to working closely with the founding team as we march towards creating a positive impact for consumers, stakeholders including farmers and the industry at large.” said, Divya Gursahani, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer, Nourish You.

In her role as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Divya will lead the development and execution of comprehensive marketing strategies for all of Nourish You's product categories and consumer communication channels.

Under her guidance, Brand will prioritize the creation of a distinctive consumer experience, reinforce creative communication and design, and drive strategic market expansion.

Subway India has added four new desi flavours namely Mutton Keema, Chicken Seekh Masala, Soya Keema and Paneer Bhurji Masala to its Loaded Signature Wraps category for a limited period.

Shuchi Monga, Head of Marketing, Subway South Asia, said, “Popularity of Indian flavours is increasing day by day amongst millennials all over the world. In line with that thought, we have expanded our India menu with four new locally -relevant flavours.”

Guests at Subway will also have an option to savour the new flavours in the form of Submarine Sandwiches (subs) and Salads by paying the applicable conversion price. The new flavours would be available till January 07, 2020 at all Subway restaurants as well as on delivery platforms.

Subway India menu has an eclectic mix of local and international flavours. The existing menu includes flavours like Chicken Tandoori, Chicken Tikka, Chatpata Chana, Paneer Tikka, Veggie Delite and Tuna amongst others.

In order to promote the new flavours, Subway India has rolled out a 360-degree marketing campaign with in-store collaterals, television commercials, print advertisements, radio spots, mobile ads, billboards and social platforms. A TVC has been created to connect with the audience in an entertaining way.

Subway began its operations in India in 2001 and currently operates a chain of more than 660 restaurants across 70 Indian cities. The brand leads the way in the quick service restaurant industry in terms of its product line-up which is traditionally deemed fresh and more nutritious.

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New Delhi-based Akiva Superfoods, the health and wellness food products startup, has raised about $2 million in Series A funding round. The round has been led by Alkemi Venture Partners.

The fresh capital will be used by the startup to expand the portfolio by adding a wide range of innovative superfood-based products across categories and to get the right talent across functions. The company will also be deploying funds to expand in new markets and bolster retail channels through high impact marketing.

Shalabh Gupta, Founder and CEO, Akiva Superfoods, said, “Ever since its inception in 2016, Akiva Superfoods has been one of the fastest-growing health food players in the FMCG market. Our ultimate aim is to be an innovative and exciting independently-run FMCG company, with a capacity to scale exponentially across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities in the next five years.”

A spokesperson from Alkemi stated, “With robust direct-to-consumer, e-commerce and modern trade channels, Akiva Superfoods is data-rich, close to their customers and uses meaningful insights to develop products to scale. This is in-line with Alkemi’s mission of elevating the health and well-being of people around the world, and we are confident that this round of funding will propel the organisation to drive real value.”

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed the fruit and vegetable traders to avoid putting stickers on food products as it could lead to contamination. The food regulator stated that the safety of the adhesive used for pasting such stickers was unknown, and therefore, it is advised to avoid the use of stickers. 

FSSAI has put out an advisory through a guidance note. It explained that the stickers in Indian context were only used to either hide any decay or the brand name, which is contrary to the stickers' use in the developed world, wherein they consisted of information about traceability, grades, prices, etc. 

"However, it was observed that in India the traders use the stickers to make their product look premium, and sometimes hide the decay or defect the product. Brand name, tested OK or best quality are some common terms mentioned on stickers, which do not have any significance," FSSAI added.

The note said, "The adhesive may contain harmful chemicals which may affect human health, as the skin of fruits and vegetables are porous and the residue can percolate inside. The health risk of consuming these adhesives are high in case of fruits and vegetable consumed with skin."

Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI while inaugurating FICCI’s food service retail conclave ‘Foodzania 2017’ said “FSSAI License is mandatory for the sales of food product to ensure the health and safety of the consumers. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, regulates, manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food to promote health and safety of consumers. It governs people involved in any food business, whether manufacturing or selling and food business operators. These include shops, stalls, hotels, restaurants, airline services and food canteens, places or vehicles where any article of food is sold or manufactured or stored for sale.”

In his inaugural address, Mr. Agarwal said “FSSAI is keen to further simplify the compliance processes with active industry support and consultation. He, however, added that it is mandatory for all food businesses – caterers, manufacturers, companies transporting food items and retail outlets with 25 or more people handling food to have at least one trained ‘food safety supervisor’. The supervisor should be trained under the Food Safety Training and Certification Programme (FoSTaC), designed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The supervisors would be responsible for ensuring that food quality is maintained.”

Further, Agarwal highlighted the need for the intended engagements from the industry side to protect and ensure the trust of consumers in the food that they intake. He added that display of the food licences in the hotel/restaurant premises is an ideal way to go forward. FSSAI is keen to rate the food business operators (FBO’s) through ‘Hygiene Varity Factors’ and will allocate start ratings to the restaurants and eating places out of six on the basis of certain factors including hygiene awareness, safety processes etc.

Unnat Varma, Managing Director, Pizza Hut Indian Sub-Continent & Chairperson, FICCI Food Service Retail Taskforce said “in the progressive Indian society, food expenditures hold a lot of prominence, constituting the largest retail consumption category. In fact, the Indian food retail industry is positioned globally as the sixth-largest and has been increasing at a steady pace of over 20 per cent annually. Owing to this reason, the food services industry in the country has witnessed unprecedented growth over the past few years, contributing a significant proportion to India’s economic performance. “

Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Foodpanda & Chairperson, FICCI Food Service Retail Taskforce, said “Foodzania is the initiative by FICCI Food Service Retail Task Force which was formed to address the issues faced by the stakeholders in the sector. The Indian F&B sector is poised to witness a sea change. The recent times have seen significant discussions in this sector, which has led to a major reform of allowing FDI in multi-brand Retail in India. This is anticipated to bring some game changing impact on the modern retail sector in India and Nation at large. It is not a one stop solution to address the challenges of this huge Industry. Various issues like Infrastructure bottlenecks, multiple laws and regulations, skill gap etc. still remains a key concern and we aim to deliberate on these ground realities. We all know that F&B sector is one of the more matured industry in India. Huge consumer base in India provides numerous opportunities for every player to exist and operate successfully in this sector. The industry being deeply connected with our day to day lives holds the responsibility of serving their consumers most effectively with best quality and prices. FSSAI, has always been at forefront in facilitating the investments in the F&B sector and I trust Industry would provide full support to the Government in achieving this task together.”

Further, Kochchar said “Government has allowed 100% FDI for trading including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India. 100% FDI is already permitted in manufacturing of food products through automatic route. This will provide impetus to the foreign investment in food processing sector, benefit farmers immensely and will create vast employment opportunities. This has enhanced investment opportunities in India globally and have generated interest among the leading world food retailers for making investment in India. I am confident that this conference will come forward with new ideas that will boost the growth of the F & B sector, at the same time, enhance consumers’ welfare. “

On the occasion, Mr. Agarwal with other dignitaries launched the FICCI-Technopak report ‘Indian Food Services Industry: Engine for Economic Growth & Employment- A Roadmap for Unlocking Growth’, which highlights the overall potential of the food service in India and captures the emerging trends in the industry. It also throws light upon the ease of doing business scenario in the industry. The report recommends key alterations required to stimulate the growth in the food service industry, helping the industry realize its true potential. A concerted and collaborative effort is made to suggest the next steps to address various issues faced by the industry.

Many consumers have alleged that sellers on e-commerce sites have been trying to clear stocks of packaged food that are on the brink of expiry and have limited shelf life at reduced prices.

LocalCircles conducted a survey of 10,000 consumers, who suggested that they ordered the food product as it was on a small discount, only to find on delivery that they now need to consume it in one month instead of the full shelf life of 12 months. Around 96% of the respondents said e-commerce sites should mandatorily disclose manufacturing and expiry dates of the packaged food products sold on their sites.

"This leads to the product not being fully utilised, resulting in wastage and loss of money for the consumer," said a spokesperson for LocalCircles, a citizen engagement platform that is backed by industrialists such as Anand Mahindra and Nadir Godrej, among others.

Albinder Dhindsa, Co-founder, Grofers, said, "We are in the process of implementing a system where the customer will see the expiry date of the product before ordering. Right now, we do store expiry of every batch on the back end and there is a check at the warehouse level where the expiry is checked before packaging an order."

While e-commerce sites currently are not governed by any policy that lays down rules on display and selling of food products, Dhindsa said, "Typically, a product will only ship to a customer if it is within reasonable window of usage. In case a customer complains about the expiry within 48 hours of delivery, we typically offer a replacement. However, expiry related complaints are less than three in 1,000 for us."

Britannia Industries Ltd, one of the major bakery and dairy products companies desires to become a global company, which is why it is aiming to double its turnover in next four to five years and also plans to expand offshore presence.

The company is primarily targeting the developing countries and expects that the exports would add on up to 14-15 percent of its turnover within next 4-5 years.

As per the reports published by PTI, Varun Berry, Managing Director, Britannia Industries, said, "In the next 5 years, I would see this going from eight per cent to 14-15 per cent. It would all be developing countries. We are not going to developed countries as it does not make sense."

He also added, "Our first step would be the countries, which has environment similar to ours. The strategy would be to seed in our products in these countries, establish a little bit of space and then start to think of a manufacturing facility there. In the meantime, if some good opportunities (acquisitions) come up in some countries, then we would look at that as well."

He further added: "Today, we are not a food company. We are broadly a bakery company only which also does dairy. We truly want to be a food company as we go forward. It’s our vision to make Britannia not just an Indian food company but a global food company. We want our footprint across the globe and made some move in that direction and a lot more would be coming in future."

Britannia clocked revenue of Rs 7,947.90 crore in FY 2015-16 and plans to double it in next 4-5 years with growth in current business and new categories in which it plans to enter.

Grofers, an online grocery delivery startup, has now scouted for government’s nod for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to carry out trading in food products. The move came right after government of India recently allowed 100 per cent FDI under government approval for trading, including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India.

As per the information on the website of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Grofers India Pvt Ltd has sought approval "to undertake trading including through e-commerce in food products manufactured and/or produced in India".

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has said India's food processing industry is expected to treble in coming years on the back of a higher economic growth. The size of the industry is about Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

The food processing ministry has recently put forth an idea of organizing World Food Summit in 2017. As per the ministry, this summit will act as a single podium for investors, technology solution providers, processors, manufacturers and all other relevant national and international stakeholders.

Ramdev Food Products, the Gujarat-based spices maker is all set to launch its snack range.

The group is planning to diversify its buisness with Ramdev Namkeen hitting retail shelves on January 16.

Ramdev brand is also expecting a turnover of Rs 200 crore from this particular business by end of 2016.

"We expect the snacks business to give us Rs 200 crore turnovers by January 2017," said Anupam Buch, VP, brand management, Ramdev Food.

The company, which clocked Rs 300 crore turnovers in 2014-15, has invested Rs 100 crore for a new plant on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

Nestle India, today listed among the top suppliers of food and beverage products for people affected by heavy rains in Chennai.

Among other products, Nestle has also supplied the 'two-minute' Maggi noodles to the Tamil Nadu government towards the relief operations, reported PTI.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister for Food Processing Industries said that the industry should ensure that there is no shortage of milk, packaged food articles and bottled water for the people of Chennai.

"It is time to stand up and make exemplary contribution for the flood affected people of Chennai who have been patronizing food brands and products manufactured by the industry," she added.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries said it is coordinating with all food processing companies for supply of packaged milk, packaged food and bottled water and also listed out names of eight companies who have made available supplies of food and beverage products to the Tamil Nadu government at Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.

The list of seven such companies included Nestle India on the top with supplies of 10 MT of noodles, 5000 litres of tetra packed milk and 50000 pouches of coffee.

"Further additional quantity approximately 25-30 MT of noodles, about 8 MT Munch and Sunrise Biscuits 800 Kgs is also being supplied," said the Ministry in a statement.

In addition, ITC has supplied six truckloads consisting of 3163 boxes of biscuits. MTR has supplied about 14128 ready-to-eat food packets and another quantity of 35000 ready-to-eat food packets will be delivered by Monday.

Britannia has supplied three truckload of 345 boxes of biscuits today and two truckloads of food items. They have also been requested to supply additional quantity of milk produce and some bread.

Coca Cola India has supplied ready with 50000 one litre water bottles, while Pepisco has supplied 12000 one litre water bottles and arranging transport to supply.

Parle is arranging to send three truckload of Parle biscuits, it added.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra issued notice to the Department of Consumer Affairs, Controller of Weights and Measures, and others on an appeal filed by the FHRAI seeking to setting aside of the division bench of the Delhi High Court’s February order.

The HC bench while disposing of the appeals filed by the government had kept the question of law, which was decided by its single judge, open for adjudication in any fresh proceedings under the new law. It had also held that the single judge’s March 2007 order “shall not be a precedent” in any case even if the concerned provisions of the old (repealed law) and the new law were identical, reported FE.

The HC bench’s order had nullified the binding effect of Justice Vikramjit Sen’s 2007 order that ruled that hotels and restaurants in the Capital can sell bottled mineral water over and above the MRP to customers who visit them and enjoy their other services facilities.

Sen had observed that “the customer does not enter a hotel or a restaurant to make a simple purchase of the bottled water. It may well be that a client will order nothing beyond a bottle of water or a beverage, but his direct purpose in doing so would clearly be to enjoy the ambience available therein and to ordering of any article for consumption.”

Justice Vikramjit Sen’s 2007 order ruled that Delhi’s hotels and restaurants can sell bottled mineral water over and above the MRP.

The FHRAI told the apex court that the HC bench’s decision had “grossly undermined the sanctity and integrity of the judicial/adjudicatory process”. It said that irreparable harm and injury will be caused to its members if the Centre is permitted to commence proceedings under the Legal Metrology Act 2009 without allowing its members to rely on 2007 judgement.

Senior counsel Harish Salve argued that charging prices for mineral water in excess of MRP during the service does neither violate the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act/the Packaged Commodities Rules nor the new law. “There is an element of service, so MRP can’t apply,” he said.

MTR, Bengaluru based Mavalli Tiffin Rooms will join the e-commerce bandwagon before Diwali. MTR will launch the site for consumers in Bengaluru, followed by rest of Karnataka and India.

It has offered huge discounts on the range of products that this subsidiary of Norwegian conglomerate Orkla produces and markets predominantly in south Indian markets.

Sanjay Sharma, chief executive officer of MTR said the move to get on to e-commerce platform is on line with serving a generation of customers born in the post-liberalization era.

"This is a generation around 35-years-old and demand and gets highest level of convenience. They want products and services that offer convenience," he said adding this is also a generation that is not much in to cooking. We are looking to reach out to this segment," added Sharma.

Having invested around Rs 50-lakh on an outsourced model to run this e-commerce platform, Sanjay said all traditional modes of payment be it cash on delivery, net banking and credit card payments will be offered to the customers.

"We are also working on payment through wallets that is the buzz word now," Sanjay said adding MTR is also developing an app that will hand hold gen next through instant cooking. "The app will have videos and tips on how to cook," he said.

Nestle India is taking into account to introduce new products under the Maggi brand driving growth with increased advertising spending, as it looks to overcome the setback from the ban on its flagship instant noodles, reported PTI.

Suresh Narayanan, newly appointed Managing Director, said at a media conference that bringing Maggi back to the market was at the top on his five-point agenda.

"In Maggi itself there are couple of ideas on which we are working. In other products categories there are couple of ideas that we have got. Nestle "spends maximum amount on R&D" worldwide, he said there are a number of projects currently underway.

Narayanan said that Maggi ban has affected sales of other categories too and the company was looking to drive growth of those categories.

"For me what is going to be the key focus is on growing some of other categories as well. We have got presence in dairy, presence in coffee and beverages and we have got presence in chocolate and confectioneries as well. There are opportunities there,” he said.

He, further, said the company was not diluting the importance of Maggi as it is "is a big part of our movement".

"There has been impact on the rest of the portfolio because it is also sold in similar outlets and in similar geographies. I can say that it has been reasonably uniform across all the categories. Uniformly it has affected,” he said for other brands. According to his five point agenda, Narayanan said Nestle India would also focus on enhanced engagement with stakeholders and authorities and communities.

He said when the company is increasing marketing spend to counter impact of Maggi ban on other brands, “That's part of the thinking really to shore up what really we can do on some of the other parts of the portfolio... One part of the portfolio is affected but we will be looking as to how we can shore up advertising and support activities on the other brands".

Ruling out withdrawing the Maggi brand from market, Narayanan said: "The journey on Maggi would continue but the journey on other categories would also will be significantly emphasized over the period of time."

On whether the company would continue to spend on promotions of existing products in the market under the Maggi brand, he said: "Today the question for the organization is where would we get the cost benefits of doing activities to generate more growth and I believe that in other categories there are opportunities."

When asked about lessons learned from the Maggi disaster, he said: "As a consequence of what has happened we will be having a process of introspection as an organisation, in terms of learning what was the thing happened, what was the thing that was right, what was the thing which we have done was not right because this is going to be constituting the part of the learning of the organisation.

Narayanan adds, "... Nestle is a part of this country. We will be a part of this country as we have been for the last 100 years respecting the laws of the land and also respecting all the authorities. It is my hope that we are able to find a solution and we are able to move forward."

Moreover, he declined to 'hazard a guess' on how soon Maggi will be back on shelves saying the matter is sub-judice as Nestle India has challenged the ban on Maggi by central food safety regulator FSSAI in the Bombay High Court.

When asked if the company would take legal recourse against FSSAI to claim damages if the verdict comes in Nestle's favor, he said: "We have come here to do business. Let us stick to the 'Karobaar' (business). I am a qualified sale and marketing professional, let me do the job that I know best which is to serve the consumer best. What are you speculating on; the issue has not come to the table."

Ban on Maggi instant noodles lead to Nestle India reported a standalone loss of Rs 64.40 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2015, its first quarterly loss in over three decades. For the period of the April-June quarter of financial year 2014-15, it had posted a net profit of Rs 287.86 crore.

ITC has set a target of garnering revenue of Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030 from its FMCG business. Y C Deveshwar, chairman said today it look to increase presence in this segment.

Presently, revenue from FMCG business stands at around Rs 9,000 crore.

ITC was targeting to gather a business volume of Rs 1 lakh crore from FMCG business alone by 2030, Deveshwar said the company was investing heavily in brands to create consumer franchise in number of ways.

"The company has made relentless efforts in building world class brands, which had garnered an annual consumer, spend of Rs 11,000 crore," added Deveshwar.

Deveshwar said ITC was not on the bottom-line growth path but on the top line instead. He adds, "This is why the company is creating the brands of tomorrow".

On the cigarettes business, he said the regulatory environment was not entirely rational.

"I wonder some NGOs are acting as agents of overseas cigarette companies helping smuggling of cigarettes into the country. Smuggling of cigarettes is rising while the legal cigarette industry is losing volumes which are causing the Indian farmers to lose income", he said.

Deveshwar also states that ITC would be one of the most profitable FMCG companies in future.

He says, "Profits are not the only indicator of success. For instance e-commerce companies are losing cash as they are in the process of building market position. This is what ITC is doing by investing in brands”.

Regarding investments, he said ITC was investing Rs 3,500 crore in West Bengal in two factories, InfoTech centre and one hotel. The company is also investing Rs 6,000 crore at the Telengana paper mill to double capacity. ITC was envisaging an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore across 65 projects in the country.

ITC Ltd has also posted yesterday a subdued 3.61 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,265.44 crore for the first quarter ended 30th June, due to pressure on cigarette sales and sluggish demand for other FMCG products.

ITC also said in the previous fiscal, during June quarter, net sales have been declined 7.18 per cent to Rs 8,505.53 crore for the quarter as against Rs 9,164.42 crore.

Amul godown has been raided by Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials who took away six samples of its various milk products for testing, reported PTI.

The FDA officials said that they will tear down all the milk pouches stored in the godown, which were curdling.

Vineet Kumar, FDA Official said "We were getting regular complaints about various Amul milk products sold in the open market".

The samples of Amul Ghee, ice creams, fresh cream, Badam shake; Homogenized milk and Standardized milk were taken for testing.

The official also said that all the samples will be sent to regional testing laboratory for further analysis.

Samir Saxena, Amul's Head of the Quality Assurance and New Product Development department, at Anand in Gujarat said that some times milk pouches get spoiled during transit as a result of which curdling takes place.  

Citing reports about bacteria in samples of products sold by Kentucky Fried Chicken, a petition has been filed in the Madras High Court bench here seeking a direction to Union and Tamil Nadu governments to cancel or withdraw licenses given to 'YUM' products such as 'kurkure', KFC, Heavens Chicken and Marry Brown, reported PTI.

Petitioner R Devarishi, a city-based advocate, wanted a preliminary inquiry into the ingredients of the eatables and to shutdown the wholesale and retail outlets if proved positive.

He said Balala Hakkula Sangam, an NGO, had approached the Lokayukta in Hyderabad seeking the Telegana and Andhra Pradesh governments to close down the KFC outlets as some of the samples were found to have E-coli and Salmonella bacteria.

Though the company had denied the claim, the Lokayukta had issued notice seeking a report by August 5 next.

The samples were taken from five outlets in Hyderabad on June 18 this year and A.V.Krishnakumari, a food analyst, had confirmed the presence of E.coli and Samonella bacteria, the petition claimed.

The petitioner sought a direction to collect the samples of YUM products in Tamil Nadu and send them to the laboratory for test reports within a time frame for further course of action, the petitioner said.

The food safety watchdog of India FSSAI has prepared a draft specifying the limit of heavy metals in products such as canned food, margarine, wine, poultry and other processed food.

According to a spokes person at FSSAI, "The new regulations are in harmonisation with Codex standards and new food items have been included.”

The draft specifies permissible levels of metal contaminants such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, tin, mercury and chromium in food products. Some of the new food items added to the list are cereals such as quinoa, puree and other processed food.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) is the international food standards setting body established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. It develops standards, guidelines and codes of practice that contribute to the safety, quality and fairness of food trade across 180 countries. At present, the proposal is available for public comment. The draft is an amendment of the Food Safety Standards Regulations 2011 and will be called the Food Safety Standards Regulations (Contaminants, Toxins, Residues) (Amendment) Regulations, 2015.

According to the official, the draft will enable on the date of final notification in the official gazette.

Four authorised distributors of Maggi noodles in the state of Mizoram were recalling the products from different retailers and outlets across the state and the recalling process was expected to be over by this week, said, state health department officials to PTI.

“Though the state government did not ban the Nestle product as done in some states, instructions of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) were being implemented,” said Lalsawrna, Joint Director (FDA), State health department.

“Nestle's authorised distributors fully cooperated with the health department but recalling the product from remote villages took time,” added the official.

He expressed the hope that the samples of Maggi instant noodles from Mizoram would be sent to the Assam Public Health Laboratory in Guwahati for testing during this week.

Ever since Maggi ban has hit the Indian market, other food products including Haldiram’s snacks, HUL’s Knorr noodles, Britannia’s snack products amongst others are facing the food safety haul not only in India but abroad.

United States food safety inspector has banned or rejected over 2100 Indian-made food products including food products, health supplements and personal care products reported WSJ.

According to the US FDA’s website, they found pesticides and bacteria in high levels in the products manufactured in India.

The report stated that the Haldiram's products especially their cookies, wafers and biscuits are 'filthy, putrid or decomposed-otherwise unfit'.

The report also mentioned that the baked products are unfit for consumption and they are adulterated and contains poisonous content.

While, the Nagpur-based snack makers said that their food is completely safe. As reported by Wall Street Journal, a senior Haldiram's official said, “Our food is 100% safe and complies with the law of the land. A pesticide that is permitted in India may not be allowed there. And even if it, they may not allow it in the same concentration as it is here.”

Meanwhile according to US FDA, it was in September 2014 that pesticides were discovered for the first time in Haldiram's. Since then, the US has refused to import their products 86 times.

Starbucks, the global coffee chain which entered India in partnership with Tata Group continues to sell products rejected by FSSAI after risk assessment.

However the coffee chain said that it is, “diligently working with FSSAI" to provide information regarding pending applications.

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India had rejected applications submitted by Tata Starbucks for a total of 32 products in April.

The rejected products include coffee frappucino, vanilla syrup and hazelnut flavoured syrups, which are still sold at the cafe chain's outlet in the heart of the Capital.

"We are diligently working with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to provide the technical information relating to our pending applications that they have requested,” commented Avani Davda, CEO, Tata Starbucks.

According the coffee chain, the company imported globally standardised product ingredients, with all applicable authorisations and these are identical to the products that are served to customers in over 60 countries where Starbucks operates.

"As a premium global retailer, Starbucks has the highest standards for the experience, beverages and food we offer our customers and we are committed to complying with the regulations in every market we operate in," added Davda in an email query.

The company, however, did not respond why it continued to sell the products which have been rejected by FSSAI.  

Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked Nestle India to recall a batch of Maggi noodles from stores across the country, saying the product contained dangerous levels of lead, reported Reuters.

According to FDA in Uttar Pradesh, high lead content was examined during the routine tests on two dozen packets of instant noodles, manufactured by Nestle in India.

"Maggi instant noodles contained dangerous amount of lead and MSG. We had to immediately issue orders against the company,” shared, D G Srivastava, Deputy Inspector General of the FDA in Lucknow.

During the check the officials found a lead concentration of 17.2 parts per million (ppm), nearly seven times the permissible limit in the instant noodle. However, the acceptable limit of lead ranges between 0.01 ppm and 2.5 ppm.

The scientists also found high levels of added monosodium glutamate (MSG), a taste enhancer, in the noodles.

Nestle India, a subsidiary of Swiss-based Nestle SA , said it had strict safety and quality controls in place for all raw materials used to make Maggi noodles.

A company spokesman confirmed Uttar Pradesh had ordered it to withdraw the batch dating back to March 2014, but added the items concerned had either already been consumed or were beyond the sell-by date, making the recall difficult.

FDA has also approached federal food inspectors in New Delhi to launch a wider investigation of the noodles.

Starbucks and Chinese leading food and beverage producer Tingyi Holding Corp has announced that they have entered into an agreement to manufacture and expand the distribution of Starbucks ready-to-drink (RTD) products throughout mainland China.

According to the agreement, Starbucks will be responsible for providing coffee expertise, brand development and future product innovation, and Tingyi will manufacture and sell Starbucks RTD portfolio in China.

The RTD coffee and energy category is a $6 billion business, and is projected to grow by 20 per cent over the next three years.

“We are pleased to work with Tingyi, a leader in China’s RTD beverage category, to unlock the massive ready-to-drink market and grow local demand for Starbucks. Our agreement enables us to develop new categories and occasions to delight our customers and connect people outside of our stores to Starbucks where they live, work and play,” said John Culver, group president, Starbucks Coffee China and Asia Pacific, Channel Development and Emerging Brands.

The agreement leverages the respective strengths of Starbucks and Tingyi to bring the entire Starbucks RTD portfolio to customers in China as well as the ability to innovate specifically for the China market.

China is Starbucks fastest growing market outside the US with more than 1,500 stores in nearly 90 cities, and more than 25,000 partners (employees).

Tingyi is a leading Chinese food and beverage producer which, after more than 20 years of development, boasts world-leading production facilities and management expertise with a broad spectrum of quality channel resources.

Tingyi’s local manufacturing, sales and distribution expertise combined with Starbucks strong brand recognition and coffee expertise will unlock new market opportunities.

“The RTD market has a huge growth potential in China,” said James Wei, CEO of Tingyi Holding Corp. “The agreement with Starbucks will further expand Tingyi’s beverage product portfolio and enables us to provide consumers with more high-quality and convenient product options and experiences. As part of this cooperation, Tingyi will leverage its strength in production and distribution to increase the market share of Starbucks’ RTD products in the Chinese market.”

Today, customers in China can purchase Starbucks Bottled Frappuccino beverages in nearly 6,000 locations including select Starbucks retail stores, grocery and convenience stores throughout mainland China.

Through this agreement, Starbucks and Tingyi plan to bring new and existing Starbucks Bottled Frappuccino in the marketplace during 2016, which will be followed by innovation and an increased number of locations and cities for consumers to purchase Starbucks RTD products.