India\u2019s 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\u2019s, 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\u2019s MCD.N biggest India franchisee, Westlife Foodworld, WEST.NS has been defending its use of \u201creal cheese\u201d 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\u2019s franchisee disagreed with the findings, but in December it dropped the word \u201ccheese\u201d from the names of many burgers and nuggets it sells statewide, letters seen by Reuters show.It renamed a \u201ccorn and cheese burger\u201d as an \u201cAmerican vegetarian burger\u201d, for example.Inspectors of the state\u2019s Food and Drug Administration will now visit all McDonald\u2019s 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.\u201cWe are planning to check all outlets of McDonald\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will also take action on other well-known and frequently visited global fast-food chain outlets,\u201d he added, but declined to identify the brands being targeted.Shares of Westlife plunged as much as 6.7% after the Reuters report.Another senior state government official, who sought anonymity, said inspectors would visit Indian franchisee outlets of brands such as Domino\u2019s 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\u2019s in west and south India, will welcome any inspections and maintains the \u201chighest standards\u201d, its managing director, Saurabh Kalra, said.Domino\u2019s franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks JUBI.NS, Burger King operator Restaurant Brands Asia RESR.NS and Devyani International DEVY.NS, which operates Yum Brands\u2019 YUM.N Pizza Hut and KFC in India, did not respond to Reuters queries.Another Pizza Hut operator, India\u2019s Sapphire Foods SAPI.NS, declined comment.Devyani shares slipped on Tuesday\u2019s news to trade down 4%.India\u2019s western state of Maharashtra is its second most populous. Home to the financial capital Mumbai, which has about 100 McDonald\u2019s outlets, and many other urban cities, it is a key market for global fast-food brands.In the McDonald\u2019s 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 franchisee.The company reassured many consumers online who voiced concerns about its cheese offerings, saying on social network X that it uses \u201cglobally approved gold-standard suppliers\u201d.\u201cOur cheese is made from real milk only and we do not use any substitutes or cheese analogues,\u201d it said on Monday.(Reuters)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India’s Maharashtra state is expanding its scrutiny to include global fast-food brands to verify if they are using cheese alternatives while falsely advertising products as containing real cheese. This action follows a crackdown on McDonald\u2019s, where the state’s Food and Drug Administration will inspect outlets for compliance with display and labeling rules. McDonald\u2019s largest India franchisee, Westlife Foodworld, has been under scrutiny for allegedly using cheese analogues. Despite disagreements with the findings, Westlife dropped the word \u201ccheese\u201d from several product names. Other brands such as Domino\u2019s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and KFC, operated by Indian franchisees, will also be inspected. Shares of Westlife and Devyani International, which operates Pizza Hut and KFC in India, saw declines following the news. The state has the authority to suspend licenses for food safety violations. Westlife asserts it maintains high standards and uses real cheese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[403,325,936,279,3,53,415,937,187,938,618,483,18],"class_list":["post-3303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-asia","tag-check","tag-cheese","tag-comment","tag-cyprus","tag-gold","tag-government","tag-india","tag-international","tag-mcdonalds","tag-top","tag-violations","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n