Delhi: Amid the controversy involving its Maggi noodles, Nestle India on Friday announced that its managing director Etienne Benet would be replaced by Suresh Narayanan, presently the chairman and CEO of Nestle Philippines. ‘Etienne Benet, managing director, will be leaving Nestle India on 25 July and relocating to Nestle Group Head Office in Switzerland,’ the company said in a statement.

‘Nomination has been received from Nestle SA for the appointment of Suresh Narayanan as the managing director of Nestle India with effect from 1 August 2015. In the meantime, Narayanan will function as a designate. The proposal is subject to necessary approvals,’ the Swiss multinational food company added.

Benet has held this position since 1 October 2013. This change in the position of the managing director has come after Maggi noodles were banned by India’s official food regulator on 5 June after an allegedly high amount of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) was found in a sample. Following that, Nestle withdrew all the variants of the popular instant noodle but continued to maintain that its products were safe.

This was also confirmed by a host of other countries, including Britain, Singapore and Canada, that found Maggi noodles that were imported there from India to be safe.