Bahrain has imposed a nationwide ban on a brand of Nestle instant noodles manufactured in India, a report said.

The move follows a Health Ministry-ordered seizure of hundreds of packets of Maggi noodles, which reportedly found their way onto shop shelves in Bahrain through local traders, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Maggi noodles are at the centre of a health scare in India after laboratory tests revealed that they contained lead at levels far higher than the legal maximum.

The GDN reported last week that health officials had cleared the noodle brand for sale in Bahrain on the basis that most Maggi products available here are made in Malaysia.

Samples taken from the market and tested in the laboratory had also come back negative for high levels of lead.

The Health Ministry has now ordered heightened vigilance at the country's ports to ensure that no more of the Indian-manufactured noodles enter Bahrain, primary care and public health assistant under-secretary Dr Maryam Al Jalahma told the GDN.

"Action was immediately taken by health inspectors to withdraw Indian-origin Maggi noodles from shops," she said.

"We collected close to 360 packets during random inspections conducted in various stores across the country.

"It was found that the products were imported directly from India or from other neighbouring regional markets in small quantities before the health scare.

"Our move comes after health authorities in India announced a ban on the noodles, since laboratory tests showed that the noodles contained lead at levels far higher than the legal maximum.

"As a precaution, samples of Maggi noodles manufactured in Malaysia, the main source for Bahrain market, were subjected to laboratory analysis.

"Results revealed the safety of such products for human consumption."

Dr Al Jalahma said that shops had been given clear instructions to withdraw the product from sale.

"Inspectors will continue monitoring the market and we urge all citizens to report any complaint to our hotline on 39427743," she said.

"Shopkeepers and retailers cannot import the Indian noodles as we have now notified inspectors at the ports to ban their entrance into the country.

"It must be noted that the seized packets were imported before the ban," she added.

A shopkeeper, who had his stock of the noodles seized and did not want to be named, told the GDN that he did not know anything was wrong with the product.

"We buy the noodles from larger supermarkets and we were not really aware of the difference in the product from India or Middle East," he said.

"We will be careful now to buy this product only from authorised dealers or even wait until a clean bill of health from the ministry."

Nestle Middle East has issued a statement to stress the safety of its products.

"All our Maggi products in the Middle East are safe and compliant with the highest quality standards," said Nestle Middle East media relations manager Lynn Al Khatib.

"Food safety is Nestle's number one priority.

"We do more food testing that any other entity in the world and have many stringent controls to guarantee safety - starting from the raw materials we use, throughout processing to packaging." – TradeArabia News Service