Calcutta, June 5 : Swiss food company Nestle's withdrawal of its flagship noodle brand Maggi from Indian stores in the wake of safety concerns has caught the attention of Australia, which is looking to expand its ties with India in the food and agriculture sector.

Australian high commissioner to India Patrick Suckling, on a two-day visit here to meet state government and industry officials, told The Telegraph that foreign investors might not get into the merits and demerits of the Maggi case. However, they will get worried if there are multiple cases of regulatory lapses in food safety and security in the future.

"India has a robust food safety regime to the extent that people have confidence in that and over the last few days we have seen that it is actually working. Also, certain measures are being taken. I do not think that one incident will cause global investors to consider that there is a real problem. But if there are successive series of regulatory deficiencies, people will start to think there is a real problem," said Suckling.

Australia has developed a strong food safety and security standard that has helped the country to prevent the outbreak of several diseases and develop global reputation for food product exports.

"Some people criticise us for being too closed. We have always said that there is a whole series of disease that is not present in Australia because we have stringent guidelines. We have a system, which ensures that the food imported or exported does not cause any threat," said Suckling.

"The interesting thing is that having taken some pains in the past, Australia is now being increasingly recognised as a country where there is safety and quality of the produce coming out of the country. We have international reputation for clean, green and safe food, which is driving huge value addition for our food market," he added.

Suckling, however, said stringent food safety checks should not be considered as a trade protection measure. "We now have Indian mangoes, grapes and all sort of fruits and vegetables coming into Australia from different parts of the world. It's not that we have closed the door. It's just that when it comes, it is properly treated and compliant with our regulations."