Maggi and the Art of Living

The 2 minutes response to Hunger suffered a setback a few months back. Not getting into the reasons why it was banned at the first place and "unbanned" after a few months,  the decision to bring back the same has led to smiles on the millions who have secretly suffered from morbid dreams of having ingested what the laboratories termed as banned substances. The bachelors, the harried mothers,the lazy housekeeper or the urgently hungry seemed to have lost the art of living or more aptly the art of eating.

Now the verdict is out that Maggi Noodles is no more harmful than the packets of Paan Masalahs or ciggarettes which mind you declare that we are harmful but are still not banned .Mothers who were probably suffering from  guilt pangs of having fed their children poison for so long have heaved a sigh of relief. All hill stations with Maggipoints which wore a deserted look and had converetd themselves to the boiled egg shops or worse, substituted Maggi with some of the lesser known brands but still maintain the signboards of Maggipoints have been vindicated.

The serious question is what actually happened?Who was wrong and while it is easier to blame the babu who stirred the hornets nest by being instrumental in declaring Maggi as food non grata based on findings of some authorized or accredited labs, the question still remains-who goofed up? Who is the victim ? Things are never in black and white and while supporters of Maggi kept on harping about Lead in water and soil the prosecution slapped the verdict with responsibility and ethics of a Multinational. Several jobs were lost in the ensuing battle of finding the truth not to mention the less severe mental agony of those who had been consuming the FSSAI (Food Safety and standards Authority of India) certified product with zeal for so long.The cynical Indian also questions if there were some underhand dealings to declare the product as safe , however as cynics usually are he also questions the bravado of the bureaucrats who went on to declare the product as unsafe.

The Brandkiller action leading to a famous Ayurveda product maker getting into a Maggi Substitute is a classic case of making use of the opportunity and diluting the monopoly.Once the products hit the shelf the consumption might once again reach the peak and given the vast numbers there is always a space for more players and Maggi will survive . But that doesnot still remove the apprehension whether the newly re-certified safe status conferred on Maggi is a product of the authentic results or a mere file noting change due to sudden fancy of a gentleman with the power to Ban or Unban a product.

Over a plate of Maggi the thought to eat or not to eat will  nag every lift of spoon.  Should Maggi also put a hazard warning declaring "Eating at your own risk" to safeguard it against any possible reexamination and just like ciggarettes or paan masala get an immunity from causing harm?