The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has initiated a probe into reports on allegedly high level of sugar in Nestle's baby food product Cerelac, according to a report.
This comes after the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs asked the food regulator operating under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to take "appropriate action" against Nestle.
In a letter to FSSAI CEO G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare asked the food regulator to "initiate an appropriate action into the practices of Nestle Company regarding the composition of Nestle Cerelac baby cereals sold in India.”
The Central Consumer Protection Authority and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had also directed FSSAI to conduct a probe.
FSSAI's scientific committee is assessing potential violation of regulations by Nestle and other brands selling baby food and infant formula milk, following which the regulator will decide on further action, reported CNBC-TV18, citing sources.
In a separate development, FSSAI on Monday started collecting samples of spice powder products from all brands after certain masala products sold by MDH and Everest were recalled by food regulators in Singapore and Hong Kong over pesticide content. These include Everest Fish Curry Masala and MDH products like Madras Curry Powder, Mixed Masala Powder and Sambhar Masala Powder.
The action by foreign regulators came after they allegedly found presence of ethylene oxide beyond permissible limits. Ethylene oxide is used to fumigate agricultural products to prevent microbial contamination.