CHENNAI: Westlife Foodworld Limited, company which operates McDonald’s restaurant chains, said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has given clean chit to the cheese used by it.
FSSAI, under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has verified the cheese used by McDonald’s India as ‘100% Real Cheese’ and decided to use the word “cheese” in products containing cheese, it informed in exchange filings on Tuesday.
This comes after McDonald’s India removed cheese from the menu across Maharashtra last month after its run-in with the state food and drug administration (FDA). The regulatory body briefly suspended the licence of its franchise in a Mumbai outlet and there are reports of the company using products made using cheese analogues- blending non-dairy fats like vegetable oil to produce cheese like products.
“Articles in question contain Cheese or cheese product as a part of composition and doesn’t contain analogue in dairy context in any form”, the company said. This is a clean chit McDonald’s India’s commitment to upholding stringent food quality standards across its restaurants, at all times, it said on Tuesday. The company said it is sourcing authentic ingredients from globally recognised and approved suppliers and has a stringent and mandatory process testing policy.
Saurabh Kalra, MD of McDonald’s India (W&S), said the clean chit from FSSAI affirms that our products contain 100% real cheese sourced from globally renowned suppliers.