So How Did Lead Get Into Maggi?

Lead poisoning kills 1.5 lakh people annually. We examine the possible ways lead could’ve contaminated Maggi

Lead is fatal if consumed in large quantities. The UP FDA found Maggi to have 7 times the permissible levels (Photo: iStock)

It boasts of Rs 15 billion annual sales in India but maybe staring at a nationwide ban following high levels of lead and MSG in it.

According to the World Health Organisation, lead poisoning kills around 1.5 lakh people across the globe every year. But the million dollar question is, how did lead get into our favourite snack?

Lead is extremely toxic in nature and fatal if inhaled in large quantities. Fumes from your car exhaust and industrial emissions are all heavy in lead. And so are most of the common paints and even some clay pottery. Through corrosion of water pipes, it gets into our soil and drinking water as well.

The dangerous thing about lead is that once it is in the food chain it cannot be removed by washing or other corrective steps.

But Maggi does not grow in a farm, it is manufactured in a factory, so how did it get exposed to this toxic metal? Dr Gopal Rao, Professor at IIT Bombay, says that the water used in the manufacturing of Maggi could’ve been contaminated leading to traces of lead in it.

Centre for Science’s Food Department Head, Amit Khurana feels it could’ve come from one of the ingredients in the Maggi Masala. Raw onions, garlic and tomatoes are used to extract flavour for that yummy masala. One of them could’ve been exposed to lead through the soil.

(Photo: iStock)

In the 2004 Lead Poisoning controversy which embroiled Mexico, instead of candies which were thought to be infecting children, it was the wrappers that were found to be laced with lead.

Could the same be true for Maggi? Perhaps the FDA should also be testing the plastic packaging that Maggi comes in.