Nestle lowers growth outlook as noodle scandal bites

Nestle, the world's largest packaged food company, has cut its growth outlook for 2015 on the back of the Maggi noodles safety scare in India.

Earlier this year, laboratory tests in India revealed some packets of the popular product contained high lead levels, which translated into a slump in sales.

In the nine months to 30 September sales fell 2.1% year-on-year to 64.9bn Swiss francs (£44bn), the company said in a trading statement released on Friday, adding it cut its 2015 growth outlook to around 4.5%, below its long-term forecasts for 5%-6% growth.

The Switzerland-based group also said it was in talks with Indian authorities as it aims to resume the sale of its Meggi product.

"After a good performance in the first half of the year, we were impacted in the third quarter by exceptional events, with Maggi noodles in India and a rebate adjustment in Nestle Skin Health," said group chief executive Paul Bulcke.

He added that growth in China continued to be lower than expected.