Soupy Tears Add 'Extra Seasoning' to Widespread Maggi Nostalgia

Five days after provision stores removed stocks off their shelves, students and working professionals who grew up on these noodles are more peeved than relieved
Soupy Tears Add 'Extra Seasoning' to Widespread Maggi Nostalgia

CHENNAI: It’s been only five days since the ban was imposed in Tamil Nadu on Maggi noodles, one of the most popular instant food products in India. But die-hard fans of the yellow-red pack are already a desperate lot, visiting shop after shop asking for their favourite hit. Lead? What lead?

“Maggi was so convenient and there’s nothing like it. No other instant noodles has the same flavour. It hasn’t affected anyone for so long. I just ate a packet of Maggi that I had at home two days ago. If it hasn’t done anything to me for 10 years, one more packet isn’t going to hurt, right?” asks Sandhya Suresh, a college student, who is yet to come to terms with the fact that lead has been found in her favourite snack.

She is not alone. There are scores of such fans who profess their love for Maggi with nostalgia, with many including a homemaker and even a school teacher even arguing that if Maggi was deemed to be unhealthy, then there would hardly be any food item that would find a place in the store,  given the amount of chemicals being included in food products.

R Rajalakshmi, a homemaker residing at MGR Nagar, recalls how there was a furore some years ago over the alleged presence of pesticides in  colas.  Despite all the controversy then, when it appeared that none would ever drink those in the future, it remains in demand even now. “I see no point in banning Maggi,” she contends. She adds that tobacco and alcohol too are being consumed by a large number of people  who consume them despite knowing that these are harmful. Maggi too will come out of the mess, she opined.

Echoing her, 23-year-old MNC employee Keshav N says, “Two Eastern States have already deferred the ban, saying Maggi is fit for consumption. It will be back in stores here as well.”

School teacher Sumithra Siva stresses that brain dysfunction or other ailments aren’t caused by lead alone, but due to a number of reasons. “If we want to point fingers, then we should ban every other commercial item being sold in the city,” she tells City Express.

Shop owners, however, say that they have cleared their shelves of Maggi, and do not provide anyone with the instant snack, even to the most desperate of customers. “But even before the shelves were cleared, people came and bought the rest of the stock,” says Shanmugam, a shopkeeper at Besant Nagar.

M Shakib Basha, another shopkeeper near the Madras Christian College says, “Regular customers do ask if I stock Maggi anymore. But after the ban, many are not even buying the normal hakka noodles that is available. Most of my Maggi customers were kids and college students who live in hostels. Some of them even bought some 10 packets the day the ban was announced here. I removed them from the shelves as soon as possible and the company has informed me that they’ll pick it up soon.”

However, Savithri K, a sexagenarian staying at KK Nagar says that she is glad that the law has taken its course, but suggests that all products, one by one, need to be inspected. “We only ate natural, home-made food and grew up. And even while living outside, we would manage with fruits and vegetables. That way we used to be healthy. I hope at least now people will start eating healthy and nutritious food,” she wonders.

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