Updated February 27th, 2024 at 15:26 IST
While specific brands targeted were not disclosed, franchises of Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and KFC are likely to face scrutiny.
McDonald’s cheese controversy | Image:Freepik
Maharashtra fast-food inspection: The government of Maharashtra will inspect outlets of global fast-food brands to verify whether these outlets are using cheese alternatives in products misleadingly promoted as containing real cheese, news agency Reuters reported, quoting a top official.
The decision to extend the investigation beyond McDonald’s comes after the Food and Drug Administration of Maharashtra uncovered the alleged use of cheese analogues made from vegetable oil by Westlife Foodworld, one of McDonald’s biggest franchisees in India.
The McDonald’s franchisee disagreed with the findings, but in December it dropped the word “cheese” from the names of many burgers and nuggets it sells statewide, letters seen by Reuters show. It renamed a “corn and cheeseburger” as an “American vegetarian burger”, for example.
The state’s Food and Drug Administration, led by Chief Abhimanyu Kale, is set to conduct thorough inspections not only at McDonald’s outlets but also at other major global fast-food chains to ensure compliance with display and labelling regulations. While specific brands targeted were not disclosed, industry sources suggest that franchises of Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and KFC are likely to face scrutiny, as per the Reuters report.
Westlife Foodworld’s Managing Director, Saurabh Kalra, emphasized the company’s commitment to maintaining high standards and welcomed any regulatory inspections.
This crackdown underscores the significance of Maharashtra as a crucial market for global fast-food chains, given its status as India’s second-most populous state and the presence of major urban centers like Mumbai. The state’s actions follow the temporary suspension of a McDonald’s outlet license last November, which was later overturned upon appeal.
The company reassured many consumers online who voiced concerns about its cheese offerings, saying on social network X that it uses “globally approved gold-standard suppliers”.
“Our cheese is made from real milk only and we do not use any substitutes or cheese analogues,” it said on Monday.
(With Reuters inputs.)
