India agency verifies McDonald's claim of 'real' cheese use, franchisee says (updated)

Westlife Foodworld

05/03/2024 09:43

(Adds background, comment from executive in paragraphs 2-4)
       MUMBAI/CHENNAI, March 5 (Reuters) - An executive at
McDonald's  MCD.N  biggest Indian franchisee Westlife
Foodworld's  WEST.NS  said on Tuesday the country's food
standards authority had verified its claims of using "real
cheese" in its food products after a crackdown by Maharashtra
state.
    The Western state of Maharashtra in November suspended the
license of one of McDonald's outlets in the east of Mumbai for
allegedly using cheese analogues of vegetable oil instead of
"real cheese" and misleading consumers.
        The state later revoked the suspension after an appeal
by Westlife, which dropped the word "cheese" from some of its
products including burgers and nuggets in December.
  
        Following the decision from the Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India, Westlife can use names of cheese
in all its products given that cheese is one of the key
ingredients, Managing Director Saurabh Kalra said in a press
conference.
  

 (Reporting by Dhwani Pandya and Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill)
 ((dhwani.p@thomsonreuters.com;))