 "Real cheese or substitutes? Why McDonald's outlet are under the scanner")
Is McDonald’s using real cheese?
That’s the question many are asking after allegations have been made about the company using cheese alternatives instead of real cheese.
While McDonald’s biggest India franchisee Westlife Foodworld has claimed it is using ‘real cheese,’ officials have vowed to crackdown on any alternatives that mislead the customer.
So what do we know about the controversy?
Let’s take a closer look:
What happened?
According to The Times of India, the Maharashtra FDA suspended the license of a McDonald’s franchisee in Ahmednagar.
The FDA said this came after the outlet used substitutes in burgers and nuggets rather than real cheese.
The chain then removed the term ‘cheese’ from several items on the menu.
“During our inspection, we did not find any mention of cheese analogues anywhere. Items like ‘cheese nuggets’, ‘cheesy dip’, and ‘cheese burger’ were being labelled as such without indicating that the cheese was a substitute,” Mahatrahstra FDA chief Abhimanyu Kale told The Times of India.
“Most other fast food pizza and burger joints could be indulging in the same practice. We plan to investigate these chains as well.”
McDonald’s in November suspended the licence of one outlet east of Mumbai in November for allegedly using analogues in products promoted as containing cheese.
The suspension was later revoked on appeal by Westlife, the McDonald’s franchisee.
Reuters quoted a top official as saying that Maharashtra will inspect outlets of global fast-food brands to check if they use cheese alternatives in products wrongly promoted as containing real cheese, widening scrutiny beyond a crackdown on McDonald’s.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe checks threaten to cause a headache for global brands after recent inflationary pressure hit consumption of burgers and pizzas that are pricey for many Indian consumers, prompting firms to launch of discounted offerings.
McDonald’s biggest India franchisee, Westlife Foodworld, has been defending its use of “real cheese” after media reported that state authorities last year found some products made use of so-called cheese analogues of vegetable oil, rather than real cheese.
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 cheese burger” as an “American vegetarian burger”, for example.
Inspectors of the state’s Food and Drug Administration will now visit all McDonald’s outlets, as well as those of other major brands, to check for similar violations of display and labelling rules, its chief, Kale, told Reuters.
“We are planning to check all outlets of McDonald’s,” he said. “We will also take action on other well-known and frequently visited global fast-food chain outlets,” he added, but declined to identify the brands being targeted.
Another senior state government official, who sought anonymity, said inspectors would visit Indian franchisee outlets of brands such as Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King and KFC.
State authorities have the power to suspend the licences of restaurants found to have infringed food and safety regulations in a way that misleads consumers.
‘Welcome any inspections’
Westlife, which runs McDonald’s in west and south India, will welcome any inspections and maintains the “highest standards”, its managing director, Saurabh Kalra, said.
Domino’s franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks, Burger King operator Restaurant Brands Asia and Devyani International, which operates Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut and KFC in India, did not respond to Reuters queries.
Another Pizza Hut operator, India’s Sapphire Foods, declined comment.
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.
Here’s a fact check for you: We use only real, quality cheese in all our products containing cheese.
— McDonald's India (@mcdonaldsindia) February 23, 2024
Our commitment to transparency in our ingredients and dedication to providing delicious, high-quality meals to our customers remains unwavering.#McDonalds #McDonaldsIndia pic.twitter.com/FDI0aKQeu6
CNBC quoted Kalra as saying in a letter to employees, “You may have come across recent media reports concerning McDonald’s allegedly using non-genuine cheese, as per Maharashtra FDA. We understand that such claims can be concerning, but we want to reassure you that these allegations are completely baseless and false.”
“Regarding the removal of the word ‘cheese’ from our menu at McDonald’s stores in Maharashtra, we want to reassure our customers that we use only real, quality cheese in all our products containing cheese,” the company told The Times of India.
“We have always been adhering to stringent food standards and are fully compliant with all applicable food laws. Our commitment to transparency in our ingredients and dedication to providing delicious, high-quality meals to our customers remains unwavering,” the company added in a statement.
With inputs from agencies
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