Nestle India has asked its distributors across the nation to recall from the market all varieties of Maggi noodles, which has been in a toxic tangle since last month, but with no deadline specified for Jharkhand, the state has a mixed pace of response.

According to the common countrywide communiqué, the company has asked distributors to immediately stop sale of the noodles and recall all packets from shops and store them separately. These stocks would be taken back by Nestle and destroyed at a unit outside the state. While Ranchi and Hazaribagh are going slo-mo on the drive, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro are prompter.

The Telegraph spoke to major distribution agencies in these cities and towns to trace the path of a Maggi packet from a shop to a warehouse, and assess the time when the state may become Maggi-free

RANCHI

The capital has three distribution agencies of Nestle India - Goyal Enterprises and Akshay Enterprises in Upper Bazaar, and RR Enterprises in Pandra (for rural Ranchi).

Akash Goyal of Goyal Enterprises said they had stopped distributing fresh stocks and begun recalling Maggi packets "only two-three days ago, as there isn't any timeframe to complete the process".

No wonder, packets of Maggi noodles are still found stacked on shelves everywhere, from kirana (small and makeshift) shops to grocery stores. Manju Stores, a shop in Bahu Bazaar, conceded it had sufficient stocks of Maggi noodles.

"No one has come to take the packets back. We are selling only on demand, but yes, sales have dipped," said an employee.

Retail giants such as Big Bazaar on Main Road, Reliance Fresh on HB Road and In & Out on Birsa Chowk and Kadru have purged their stocks of noodles, but Maggi pasta and macaroni that are also under the scanner of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) continue to be up for grabs. So, are other brands of similar "comfort food".

The tardy pace notwithstanding, Goyal broadly explained the recall process. He said stocks were being collected from individual shops, packed in cartons and labelled not-for-sale at a distribution point in cities and towns, and then being sent to the Nestle warehouse in Sidraul, Namkum, on the outskirts of the city.

"Here in Ranchi, we have deployed four executives for the job. They are making trips to 800-900 shops and retail chains. We have recalled 50 per cent stocks. It is the company's responsibility to take the stocks from the warehouse to an undisclosed destruction unit outside Jharkhand," he said.

A Nestle India official in Ranchi refused to comment on why there was no specific recall target or deadline in the state capital like other cities in the country.

JAMSHEDPUR

Unlike Ranchi, brand Maggi has done a vanishing act in the steel city, which is hoping to meet an "unofficial" Thursday noodle sanitisation deadline.

Five distributors are expected to collect more than 1.5 lakh packets from the market by Tuesday evening. Five vans from Nestle India super stockist (Jharkhand) M/s Kiran International will collect the cartons from the distributors by June 11.

Deputy manager of Kiran International Vijay Sharma said nine Maggi products were being recalled from the city and its neighbouring areas.

"We have deployed five trucks for Jamshedpur and Chaibasa. These will bring back stocks to distributors by this evening and we will collect the packaged and labelled (not-for-sale) cartons tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.

Sharma, however, refused to divulge the outcome of the products stored at the warehouse. "We will await a directive from Nestle India," he said.

The five distributors of Nestle India in the steel city are Goel Agro Tech, MBJ Enterprise and Harshit Enterprise in Jugsalai, Manoj Enterprise in Kasidih and Sri Ram Distributors in Mango.

Ratan Patwary of Sri Ram Distributors said they had already met their recall target. "The collection began four days ago. We are now in the process of sorting and packing various Maggi products at our warehouse on the basis of batch numbers. The cartons will be ferried to the Nestle warehouse in Namkum," he added.

DHANBAD

The coal capital has two Nestle distributors - DHN Agencies Private Limited (Dhanbad) and Sheo Shamal Surajbham (Jharia and adjoining areas) - and one super distributor, JJ Marketing (for some areas of Dhanbad and rural pockets).

Proprietor of JJ Marketing Lalit Jagnani said they had recalled almost 80 per cent packets from retailers. "We are sorting the stocks, with 266 noodle packets in each carton. Once done, we shall inform state representatives of the company who will collect the cartons. There is no deadline, but we hope to finish in a day or two," he added.

Proprietor of Sheo Shamal Surajbham Subhash Retolia echoed Jagnani. "Recall is in its final stages. Dhanbad will be Maggi-free in a day or two," he said.

BOKARO

Nestle has one "super distributor" in Bokaro district. M/s Agency Centre, which operates from Chas township, said it had recalled more than 80,000 packets of Maggi noodles by Sunday.

"We began the recall process on Friday. The stocks have now been sorted and are being kept at a Chas warehouse from where the company will take them to an undisclosed destination within the next three days," said manager R.K. Gupta.

City Super Bazaar proprietor P.K. Jaiswal seconded Gupta and said that more than 10,000 packets of Maggi noodles had been sent away from his shop alone. Bokaro food safety officer S. Oraon said noodles and macaroni samples were sent to Calcutta on Saturday for tests and a report awaited.

HAZARIBAGH

Local distributor Rohit Agency said they were recalling packets of Maggi noodles, but had no deadline pressure.

"The order to collect stocks from shops came from the company (Nestle India) on Friday. We have pressed eight officials and three vans into service for Hazaribagh and Chatra. There is no stipulated time, but we are rushing things," said Ritesh Jain, the proprietor of the distributing agency.

He added that they would sort the products at their warehouse and "wait for Nestle India to collect them for destruction somewhere in Hyderabad".

While Jain evaded queries on the quantity recalled so far, sources said the drive was slow and more than 25,000 packets were still in the market.

Compiled by A.S.R.P. Mukesh, Animesh Bisoee, Praduman Choubey, Shashank Shekhar & Vishvendu Jaipuriar

Is Maggi still available at your neighbourhood store? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com