New Delhi, June 5: The national food safety regulator today ordered Nestle India to recall and stop sales as well as production of Maggi noodles, citing the presence of lead and other violations and rejecting the company's assertions that its product is safe for consumption.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) directed the company to withdraw, recall, and stop sales of all the nine variants of Maggi instant noodles in the market, saying government tests had found samples of the product 'unsafe and hazardous for human consumption'.

Nestle India, which had announced late on Thursday its decision to take the product off shelves, has in official discussions with the FSSAI challenged the validity of test results from the Central Food Laboratory (CFL), Calcutta, that revealed the presence of lead in samples of noodles.

'The noodles are safe .... we will do what it takes to have Maggi noodles back on shelves as soon as possible,' Paul Bulcke, Nestle's global chief executive told a packed news conference here today, a day after senior company officials met FSSAI officials.

The controversy over the two-minutes brand of noodles, introduced by Nestle in India 33 years ago, erupted last month after CFL reported in April this year that it had detected unacceptable levels of lead in a sample of the noodles sent by Uttar Pradesh food regulators last year.

The FSSAI said the CFL had detected 17 parts per million (ppm) of lead - significantly higher than the higher permissible limit of 2.5 ppm - in the sample it tested. Delhi authorities have found unacceptable levels of lead in 10 of 13 samples, while Gujarat found unacceptable lead levels in 15 of 29 samples.

Tamil Nadu has informed the FSSAI that it has also detected lead beyond permissible limits in the noodles of other manufacturers.

The Assam government today directed the designated food safety officers of the districts to strictly enforce the ban on Maggi Xtra-delicious chicken noodles.

The commissioner of food safety, Assam, yesterday prohibited the storage, distribution and sale of Maggi Xtra-delicious chicken (noodles) marketed by Nestle India Limited in the state for a period of 30 days with immediate effect.

In Meghalaya, not stopping at just Maggi instant noodles, the district administration in East Khasi Hills has sent samples of two more noodles for examination.

East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner Sanjay Goyal said samples of Knorr and Top Ramen noodles were collected from the market here today and were sent to the State Public Health Laboratory in Guwahati. The laboratory will examine the MSG and lead levels in the products.

To a query, Goyal said today's action was taken suo motu. He also said the test reports on Maggi, a product of Nestle, were yet to be received from the Guwahati laboratory.

Today, Meghalaya food safety commissioner Y. Tsering directed all distributors and wholesalers of Nestle India Ltd in the state to withdraw and recall all the nine approved variants of Maggi instant noodles from the market.

'All the authorised distributors/wholesalers of M/s Nestle India Ltd in Meghalaya are directed to stop distributing and selling and to withdraw and recall the said products immediately from the market. They are also directed to declare their stocks after recall to the concerned food safety authorities/district administration for necessary action. Legal action shall be initiated if anyone is found violating the law,' Tsering said in his directive.

The regulator has also charged Nestle with 'misleading' labels on the issue of monosodium glutamate, as its packages have the words: 'NO added MSG.'

The FSSAI also said the company had released its Maggi Oats Masala noodles with Tastemaker without risk assessment and product approval.

The FSSAI has conceded Nestle's claim that glutamate occurs naturally in certain natural ingredients such as vegetable proteins but has cited a US Food and Drug Administration directive that foods with ingredients that naturally contain glutamate cannot claim 'No added MSG' on their packets.

The government said it is 'disturbing' the company had already released its oats masala noodles in the market 'without completing the process of risk assessment', refusing to accept the company's claim that rules relating to this issue was at the time under a stay granted by a court.

Nestle officials have the company has conducted 'extensive additional tests on over 1,000 batches of Maggi noodles at its own accredited laboratories and on over 600 batches at external accredited laboratories, including a private food testing laboratory in Calcutta.

'All the results indicate that Maggi noodles are safe and well within the regulatory limits established in India,' the company said today, adding that it has shared the results of these tests with the authorities and with the public through its website.

The FSSAI has in its order asked Nestle to 'take appropriate action to re-ascertain the safety of its products. The company has been given 15 days to 'show cause' why the approvals it had received for nine variants of its noodles should not be withdrawn.

While the government is silent on the likely sources of lead in the samples that the Calcutta, Delhi, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu labs tested, health and toxicology experts cite multiple studies over the past decade that have detected lead in raw and processed foods from different parts of India.

'Environmental lead contamination is a serious issue,' said Abbas Ali Mahdi, professor of biochemistry at the King George Medical College, Lucknow. Experts say the key source of environmental lead in the environment is lead paints, battery recyling units, and water plumbing lines.