The Food and Drug Administration in Maharashtra is all set to run checks across all McDonald’s outlets within the state, in addition to conducting inspections of other global fast-food brands that have set-up outlets. The action will be undertaken with respect to keeping the best interests of consumers in mind, while ensuring that diners at each of these outlets aren’t misled into purchasing products that are disguised as not what is promised. The incident in Ahmednagar, which alerted the authorities to expose the usage of vegetable oil being passed off as a substitute for cheese, that led to a lack of trust amongst consumers, as well as potential legal consequences.
Some of the global chains that are currently on the FDA’s radar include Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, Dominos and Yum Brands. The recent case with the major fast-food chain is also not the first time where a McDonald’s outlet was held accountable for lapse in quality. The state’s FDA inspectors had also suspended the license for a Navi Mumbai-based outlet in November last year for using analogues in products that were promoted as containing cheese.
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Although representatives of the fast-food chain have vehemently denied the claims, promising only the best quality products to their consumers, the recent turn of events have also cast a shadow of doubt on other actively operating global chains. With the new round of checks that the FDA plans on conducting, the key objective is to ensure that regulations for display and labelling are strictly adhered to across the chains, with particular focus on food items that claim to contain cheese as an ingredient. Although Westfield Foodworld – the franchise holder of McDonald’s in India – took prompt action in eliminating the word ‘cheese’ from all their products, the inspections are intended to bring to light any discrepancies by the chains to light.