The sale of Maggi noodles had dropped drastically over the past week and in several stores rival brands have started taking over the shelves once ruled by the Nestle product.

From small shacks to giant stores, the once popular snack had ceased to be the bestseller days before the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India asked Nestle to withdraw its Maggi noodles from across India.

In several stores, stocks picked up three weeks ago were lying unsold on Friday afternoon.

"Until a fortnight ago, our weekly stock of 25,000 packets would usually be exhausted in four-five days and we had to order emergency supply. After the controversy we were left with over 10,000 packets bought two weeks ago," said the floor manager of a department store at City Centre Salt Lake. "The distributor has taken back the 10,000-odd unsold packets."

On Friday, the store had deployed four employees to bring out rival brands from godowns and display them on the racks that were once the exclusive domain of Maggi.

Saikat Maiti, the owner of a Tollygunge store, said the Maggi row has taken a toll on the sale of other noodles as well. "Earlier, I used to sell around 300 packets of Maggi in a week. Over the past week, I could barely sell 30 packets. I tried to push other noodle brands but customers were reluctant to buy any. I have asked distributors not to supply any more noodles till the controversy dies down," Maiti said.

While bigger outlets can easily send back their stocks, smaller stores seem to be in a soup.

Beleghata trader Amit Maiti said he had bought two cartons of Maggi - each with 96 packets, priced Rs 12 - two weeks ago from a wholesaler in Burrabazar. Around 120 packets are lying unsold.

"I called up the wholesaler today to know what I should do with so many packets. He asked me to try to sell them. He said he would take back the packets and refund money only if the distributor from whom he had bought them agreed to do so," Maiti said.

Thousands of packets of Maggi noodles were found stacked on shelves at another multi-brand retail outlet in Mani Square on Friday evening. A salesperson said only two packets were sold since morning.

Across shacks in Sector V, where Maggi was a top draw till a fortnight ago, the brand has gone off the menu.

"I used to sell around 50 plates of Maggi daily. The sales have dropped drastically over the past 10 days. Over the past three days, I have not sold a single packet," said Mahadeb Dhara, who runs a shack outside the Bengal Intelligent Park in Sector V.

Dhara's customers are surely missing Maggi but are unwilling to take a chance. "So much is being said in newspapers and on TV about Maggi. I know it's cheap, tasty, fast to cook and filling, but why take a chance?" said Soumya Chatterjee, who works for an MNC in Sector V.

However, in the midst of the nationwide scare about Maggi, Behala resident Sucheta Banerjee is stocking up the Nestle noodles at home. "I believe Maggi cannot cause more harm than junk food and soft drinks. I bought eight packets from a local store," said Banerjee, who works at a private firm.