Mumbai, June 5 (IANS): In a relief of sorts for beleaguered multinational Nestle, its popular 2-minute noodle brand of Maggi passed laboratory tests in Maharashtra, a top official said here on Friday.

Nine out of 15 samples tested in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) laboratories so far have shown the lead content to be between 0.1-1.4 Parts Per Million (PPM), against the maximum limit of 2.5 PPM, said FDA Commissioner Harshdeep Kamble.

"The lead content we found in these samples are within permissible limits. The results of another six samples are expected by Saturday," Kamble added.

The samples which tested positive were picked up from Mumbai and Thane (4 each) and one from Sangli.

The test reports of samples from Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur and Aurangabad are still awaited.

On Thursday, retailers in Mumbai had decided to stop stocking and selling Maggi noodles until the test reports confirmed it to be safe for consumption.

Earlier in the day on Friday, Nestle announced withdrawal of the product from the Indian market after several states banned Maggi in the past few days.