Hindustan Unilever (HUL) said Wednesday the company has decided to stop production and sale of its Chinese range of instant noodles in conformance with the FSSAI advisory to State FDAs dated Jun. 8, 2015 with regard to product approvals.

HUL had submitted an application with FSSAI for product approval for the Knorr Chinese range of instant noodles in February 2015 and the same is pending approval. The company is expected to restart production and sale of instant noodles after its application gets approval from FSSAI.

The discontinuance of manufacturing and sale of Chinese instant noodles is not on account of any safety or quality concerns, HUL clarified. "The Chinese instant noodle range uses ingredients which are permitted under the FSS Regulation, 2011/Codex andsafety of these ingredients is well established. Details of the same have been shared with FSSAI as part of the product approval application. HUL continues to engage with FSSAI to secure the approval of this range so as to make these products available at the earliest for its consumers."

The company further clarified that all its food products including its Chinese range of instant noodles, abide by the highest quality standards and are safe for consumption. HUL follows a strict quality management system and regularly monitors products for compliance to regulations, it said.

"All HUL food products are regularly tested at Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) approved laboratories in addition to complying with strict internal quality standards. All suppliers are periodically audited by external accredited auditing agencies," the company said.

"As a responsible manufacturer and to reassure consumers, HUL has last week conducted additional testing of its noodles range of products from external FSSAI approved laboratory. All these tests show that the Chinese noodles range of products are safe for consumption and continue to meet all regulatory norms," it added.

Shares of the company gained Rs 13.2, or 1.61%, to trade at Rs 833.50. The total volume of shares traded was 32,493 at the BSE (9.57 a.m., Thursday).