The findings came after a raid at a CG Foods India factory in Rajasthan. The company is part of CG Corp Global, the conglomerate led by Binod Chaudhary, Nepal’s only billionaire who is widely known as the ‘Noodle King’ for building the Wai Wai instant-noodle brand.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has ordered a Nepali billionaire-owned company that produces the famous Wai Wai noodles to stop manufacturing certain products after food safety inspectors found broken noodles collected from the factory floor being used to make Indian snacks, news agency Reuters reported. This comes amid a nationwide crackdown against eateries, outlets and restaurants over food hygiene and quality, with popular brands such as Pizza Hut and Domino’s also facing regulatory action in recent weeks.
The action was taken against a factory operated by CG Foods India in Rajasthan. The company is part of CG Corp Global, the conglomerate led by Binod Chaudhary, Nepal’s only billionaire who is widely known as the ‘Noodle King’ for building the Wai Wai instant-noodle brand.
The FSSAI said inspectors found that the factory was “re-processing floor-collected broken noodles into bhujia without heat treatment”.
Bhujia is a popular fried Indian snack sold in small packets by numerous food companies across the country. The investigation focused on two Wai Wai-branded bhujia products.
Authorities also seized nearly 32,000 kg of stock from the facility and found 1,925 boxes of expired finished products. The FSSAI said that legal proceedings had been initiated against the food business operator and that samples had been collected for testing.
This comes days after Maharashtra food safety officials found expired and nearly expired products carrying altered expiry dates and nutrition labels during a raid on a warehouse in Navi Mumbai. The products were from major brands such as Nestle, Unilever, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, with officials finding chemicals allegedly used to rub off dates from packaging and machines to print replacement labels.