Nestle India Limited's Maggi -- a hugely popular instant noodle product -- is facing a crackdown in several Indian states after some tests revealed that the snack contained high levels of lead. The Delhi state government on Wednesday banned Maggi noodles for 15 days after test results deemed the product unsafe.

The Delhi city government reportedly conducted tests on 13 samples of Maggi noodles, 10 of which showed an excessive amount of lead and the presence of the chemical flavor enhancer, monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is not mentioned in the product's list of ingredients. The Delhi government said that it will take legal action against the company, which is a subsidiary of Swiss-based Nestle SA. Delhi’s health ministry said Wednesday that the ban will enable authorities to check samples, according to local media reports, adding that the company had been asked to take the product off the market, NDTV, a local news network reported.

The company said on Wednesday said it had not received any order from the central or state Food and Drug Administration authorities to recall Maggi noodles, but added that it is "cooperating with the authorities,” NDTV reported. Nestle India earns around $240 million annually from Maggi noodles sales in India, and the company's stock crashed nearly 10 percent on Wednesday.

"We regularly monitor all our raw material for lead, including testing by accredited laboratories which have consistently shown levels in Maggi Noodles to be within permissible limits," Nestle India had said in a statement released Monday.

The southern Indian state of Kerala had ordered a pullout of the product from government-run outlets on Tuesday, but later stated that the lead content in the product is reportedly within permissible limits. The state governments of Haryana, West Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra also have begun conducting tests for lead and MSG in the product.

The controversy over Maggi noodles began last month after tests ordered by the northern state of Uttar Pradesh found excessive amounts of lead in the product. "Nestle claims its products are not harmful but we found lead in the taste enhancer powder," S. K. Singh, a food safety regulator in Uttar Pradesh, said, according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, some of Bollywood's biggest names -- Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta -- who have endorsed Maggi noodles at some point in time were the target of a complaint filed by a court in the state of Bihar.

"I have not received any notice. As soon as I get it, I will put it up to my lawyers and we will fully cooperate with what the law says. I would also like to add that I stopped endorsing Maggi two years ago. I don't endorse Maggi anymore now. That happened two years ago. So, I have not been associated with the product," Bachchan reportedly said, on Wednesday.

Dixit and Zinta took to Twitter to address the controversy.

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