It is not just countries like UK, Singapore and Canada which find Maggi safe but even Indian start-ups providing nutritional ratings and advice are vouching for the 2-minute noodle.

Bengaluru-based start-up Wise Tummy has tied up with a NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories) certified lab in Chennai to validate that Maggi has lead at 1.76 mg per kg, when the permissible level according to the Food Safety Standards Act, 2011 is 2.5 mg per kg.

NABL is an autonomous body under the aegis of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, which provides laboratory accreditation services. Wise Tummy is an online platform that helps consumers understand, differentiate and choose the relatively healthier packaged food product.

“When it comes to lead content, we decided to numerically test the level by tying up with a Chennai laboratory that is (NABL) certified, as there is still confusion across States about the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) findings with regard to Maggi noodles,” says Wise Tummy’s founder Gaurav Maheshwari.

Maggi’s lead content at 1.76 mg per kg was split between the cake (0.61) and tastemaker (1.15) according to wisetummy.com .

Comparing lead content across brands like Maggi (masala), Ching’s (Veg Hakka Noodles), Top Ramen (Curry Veg), Sunfeast Yippee Noodles and Foodles from Horlicks, Wise Tummy found that it was GSK’s brand Foodles which had the least lead content at 0.69 mg per kg with the cake at 0.28mg and Tastemaker at 0.41 mg.

All five brands were tagged as being lab tested and safe by the website.

“We took random samples of these noodles in Chennai to do the testing. The purpose was to give reliable data and clarity about the brands which we have also put up on our Facebook page,” added Maheshwari.

Going forward, the two-and-a-half-year-old start-up intends getting authentic verification done for packaged milk brands after there were reports of detergent being used in Mother Dairy.

“Our next set of tests will be for milk as we want to take bigger, better and bolder steps to build trust among the users of our site,” says Maheshwari.

Wise Tummy is also planning to rope in more bodies like the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and CFTRI (Central Food technological Research Institute) to validate the safety of packaged food brands.

Other nutrition rating start-ups like Purple Kaddu also intend doing the same.

“Not all the samples of Maggi are expected to have high lead content. But since Nestle is a big multinational, it is more accountable than small companies who do not have the right labels on their products. We are open to tying with labs which are government-approved to add more value to our food ratings,” added Purple Kaddu’s Founder and CEO Vishal Davda.

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