Indian state to inspect global fast-food chains after McDonald's cheese crackdown

Sapphire Foods India

27/02/2024 08:21

* 
      Scrutiny of McDonald's in Indian state sparks wider
crackdown
    

        * 
      Maharashtra to probe promotion of items claimed to use
cheese
    

        * 
      Crackdown to cover other global fast-food chains -official
    

        * 
      Targets include Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino's -source
    

  
    By Dhwani Pandya and Praveen Paramasivam
       MUMBAI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - India's western state of
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, a top official said.
    The 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  MCD.N  biggest India franchisee, Westlife
Foodworld,  WEST.NS  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, Abhimanyu 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  DPZ.N , Pizza Hut, Burger King and
KFC. 
    Indian 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.
    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  JUBI.NS , Burger
King operator Restaurant Brands Asia  RESR.NS  and Devyani
International  DEVY.NS , which operates Yum Brands'  YUM.N 
Pizza Hut and KFC in India, did not respond to Reuters queries.
    Another Pizza Hut operator, India's Sapphire Foods
 SAPI.NS , declined comment.
    India's western state of Maharashtra is its second most
populous. Home to the financial capital Mumbai and many urban
cities, it is a key market for global fast-food brands.
    In the McDonald's case, state food inspectors 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. 
    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.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Focus: The world's cheapest Domino's pizza is in inflation-hit
India. It costs $0.60    https://reut.rs/3rqYHjZ
Subway India takes away free cheese slice, offers sauce as
inflation bites    https://reut.rs/444nZC3
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Editing by Aditya Kalra and Clarence Fernandez)
 ((aditya.kalra@thomsonreuters.com; @adityakalra;))