Along with WaiWai, the South Indian state also banned Maggi, Reliance Select Instant Noodles and Smith and Jones Chicken Masala Noodles for three months.

A report of Tamil Nadu’s Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration of Tamil Nadu showed the lead content in WaiWai is beyond the permissible norms.

“The Wai Wai X-press is unsafe for human consumption,” states the report. “The maximum permissible norm for presence of lead in such unspecified foods is 2.5 parts per million by weight.”

“Wai Wai X-press has been banned for a period of 3 months in Tamil Nadu in the interest of public health in accordance of the powers conferred by clause (a) of

sub-Section (2) of Section 30 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006,” the Indian food safety regulator report reads.

Chaudhary Group (CG), under CG Foods India, produces white and brown noodles including WaiWai X-press Instant noodles from its Chittore plant in Andra Pradesh.

Following the Tamil Nadu government’s move, WaiWai, the most popular instant noodles brand in Nepal, is also under the Nepal government’s scrutiny.

Purna Chandra Wasti, spokesperson of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, said they have collected samples of the noodles for lab test. “The test report will be obtained by Monday,” he said.

Uttam Kumar Bhattarai, secretary at the Ministry of Agricultural Development, said they would first carry out the test before jumping to any conclusion.