Maggi and Haldirams Fiasco- breach of trust and a hurt nation

If there is one debacle that almost every Indian has been talking about since the last few weeks, it is the Maggi fiasco. Most of us (especially our taste buds) were and are still extremely hurt with the recent spate of developments. The brand has been an indispensable part of kitchens across the country. So much so that the very name itself, Maggi, transports us back to nostalgia and the memories come wafting in. For years, Maggi had been a savior for bachelors living away from family, who came home to their rented accommodation and being so exhausted from work turned to the quick fix of Maggi for dinner. Their kitchen cabinets would be amply stocked with Maggi varieties since it had become their staple meal, one that was easy to prepare and filled a famished stomach. Moms who had kids’ who refused to eat home cooked healthy meals and threw tantrums at the sight of this food were tempted with a bowl of Maggi if they finished the nutritious food given to them. Late night studying in hostels which gave rise to hunger pangs were conveniently satiated with these noodles. The brand was so popular that in high altitude places, restaurants served it as part of their menu and tourists enjoyed eating it while watching the scenic view around. It was with this confidence that the brands marketing team initiated a campaign ‘me and meri Maggi’ inviting stories from consumers of unique experiences with the brand. The advertisements on TV showed Amitabh Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit advocating the brand. From being a casual evening snack to a favourite regular requirement in Indian households, the brand had successfully become an indispensable part of life. Then suddenly what went wrong? How did a product revered and loved by one and all for more than 30 years suddenly test positive with monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lead? How was it banned by governments across the country? These questions are what turned the tables around for Maggi. The downhill story started almost more than a year back in a small laboratory in a sleepy town of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Here the samples collected from Barabanki as a part of a routine test were positive and the presence of MSG was detected. MSG is an additive which is used to enhance the flavour in foods and it is not considered as life threatening. The problem would have settled with a monetary fine. Instead Nestle India decided to appeal following which the samples of Maggi were sent to the Central food laboratory in Kolkata. The situation turned grave as the samples were found to be positive with eight times the permissible limits of lead. After this, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) asked the states’ FDA (Food safety and drug association) to test Maggi samples. As individuals, we always knew that Maggi was never the healthiest food but we never thought that consuming it could be that detrimental to our health. The launches of whole wheat flour and oats variants of Maggi were being plugged as being a healthier version of the maida original noodles. Our faith and trust in the brand let us believe that it was true. After all it was good old faithful Maggi that we were talking about. Not even a month after the brand was banned across different states in India, many samples of Haldiram snacks were tested positive with pesticides in the United States by USFDA. The action also created buzz on Twitter with jokes taking punches at the brand and the situation. Two of these tweets were: “US FDA finds Haldiram’s food products unfit for consumption. Maggi ban is avenged. India should now send packets full of Guthka from Kanpur.” “First they came for Maggi. I didn’t do anything. Next they came for Haldirams. Still I didn’t do anything. What next? Chaat!” Though unlike Maggi, Haldirams didn’t carry the same strong level of association with its consumers and won’t leave a large set of people with limited food choices but still it is a signal towards a stricter regime around the world by the food safety agencies against food marketing organizations. This rightly needs to be adhered to because as common people we rely on these agencies to ensure that what we eat is safe for consumption specially when it is brands that are the hot favourite of young kids. Youth are the future of the country and unknowingly consuming brands that damage them will affect the progress and growth of the nation as a whole. The road ahead for both these brands is not easy. Apart from facing huge financial losses due to product recalls, they will incur huge losses due to the diminishing (rather negative) brand image and trust often percolating to other product categories under the same umbrella brand. Now the bigger question that Indians are asking themselves is whether they would be able to see over beloved brands anytime soon on shelves. Whether these brands would be able to regain our trust? For me it would not happen anytime soon, but yes if the organizations come up with better and healthier versions of their products and adhere to the safety norms stringently, I might consider giving them another chance. In the battle between convenience and health, quite a few times convenience tends to win. A lot of Indians would love to see a healthier Maggi even if it takes ten, fifteen or for that matter twenty minutes to cook and its entire ingredients and their quantity listed on the packet. Don’t cheat the consumers and betray their trust by marketing gimmicks is the message that has been put out, loud and clear. Viney Rao