Fake cheese in India under microscope
India’s state of Maharashtra would inspect outlets of global fast-food brands to check if they used cheese alternatives in products wrongly promoted as containing real cheese, widening scrutiny beyond a McDonald’s crackdown, a top official said.
The checks threaten to cause a headache for global brands after recent inflationary pressure hit consumption of burgers and pizzas, which are pricey for many Indian consumers, prompting firms to launch discounted offerings.
McDonald’s biggest India franchisee, Westlife Foodworld, has been defending its use of “real cheese” after media reported that state authorities found some products made use of socalled cheese analogues of vegetable oil, rather than real cheese, in 2023.
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 would now visit all McDonald’s outlets, as well as those of other major brands, to check for similar violations of display and labelling rules, said its chief, Abhimanyu Kale.
“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.
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, would welcome any inspections and maintained the “highest standards”, said its MD, Saurabh Kalra.
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 to comment.
India’s western state of Maharashtra is its second-most populous. Home to the financial capital, Mumbai, 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 franchisee.
The company said on social network X on Monday: “Our cheese is made from real milk only and we do not use any substitutes or cheese analogues.”