COIMBATORE: After noodles, it’s baby food which has landed Nestle in a soup this time.
A resident of Karumbukadai near Ukkadam here alleged on Thursday that his two-year old son had to be hospitalised after he consumed Nestle’s baby cereal Nestum, that had worms.
Manzoor Ali, who had bought the Nestum packet from a shop near his house on Monday, claimed that his son began vomitingafter taking the baby food.
“We took him to hospital and he was okay by Tuesday afternoon. We did not realise that it was because of the baby food.
On Tuesday night, we again gave him Nestum and at night he started vomiting again. We took him to hospital, where doctors said it was due to food poisoning,” said Manzoor.
On suspicion, the family checked the Nestum packet and found worms in it. “We spoke to the Food Safety Officer and Thursday being a holiday, we couldn’t file a complaint. On Friday, we will do it,” he said.
Manzoor also said the product was within the expiry date and that he used to buy other things from the shop regularly. The distributors of the product visited the shop but feigned ignorance.
Nestle spokesperson Himanshu Manglik told ‘’ that a visual inspection of the packet bought by Manzoor did not reveal anything wrong.
“We’ve picked up samples of the same batch from the market and will send them for testing at an accredited food laboratory. Our manufacturing technology does not allow the possibility of insects existing in a sealed package in which these products are sold,” Manglik said.
“Immediately before the package is sealed, any remaining oxygen is completely removed as part of the manufacturing process to maintain the product’s freshness and nutritional value. The quality and safety are priorities,” he added.