Why Maharashtra Revoked Suspension Of Licence Of McDonald's Outlet After Action Over Cheese
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to revoke the license of a McDonald¡¯s outlet located in Ahmednagar district. This action comes after the FDA scrutinized the eatery for allegedly using a cheese substitute in their dishes without properly indicating it to customers.
What happened
Despite initially suspending the outlet's license following objections raised during an inspection, the FDA proceeded to revoke the license after McDonald's filed a compliance report confirming the removal of the term 'cheese' from product names.
¡°In October 2023, we visited the outlet in Kedgaon and discovered that the names of food items displayed at the outlet included American Cheese Burger, American Cheese Nuggets, Cheese Burger, Italian Cheesy Lava Burger, and Blueberry Cheese Cake. All these names are their brand names for their products,¡± said Rajendra Bade, a food safety official from FDA-Ahmednagar.
After analysing, Bade said, they found that instead of pure cheese, the joint was using a cheese-like product. ¡°Technically, this is called a cheese analogue or cheese substitute. While pure cheese contains milk fat, the cheese analogue contains both milk fat and vegetable fat,¡± he said.
FDA sought clarification from McDonald's?
The FDA further sought clarification from the fast food giant regarding the presence of milk fat and vegetable fat in products that were advertised as containing cheese.?
¡°Since their clarification was unsatisfactory, we suspended their licence in November last year. They appealed against the suspension before the FDA commissioner in Mumbai. The commissioner heard arguments from both sides and instructed the fast food restaurant chain that they cannot use the word ¡®cheese¡¯ in their product names if they are not using real cheese,¡± he said.
In the order, FDA Commissioner Abhimanyu Kale directed McDonald¡¯s to revise their labelling and prominently tag the products as ¡°cheese analogue nuggets¡± or ¡°non-dairy cheese nuggets¡± in a font size and colour that is easily visible and distinguishable from regular cheese products.
The order also required the outlet to list the ingredients on the packaging, ensuring that the terms cheese analogue or non-dairy cheese are prominently displayed.
McDonald¡¯s was further told to keep customers informed about the use of cheese analogues in certain products through signage, handouts, and explanations regarding the reasons for using cheese analogues.In their compliance report, Bade said, the American company said that they had amended the labels.
¡°Upon receiving their compliance report, a decision was made to revoke the suspension, and they have been granted permission to resume business as before,¡± Bade said.
Contents of compliance report to the FDA
Hardcastle Restaurant, a subsidiary of Westlife Foodworld Ltd, which has the franchisee rights to own and operate McDonald¡¯s restaurants in west and south markets in India, said in its compliance report to the FDA that it had renamed certain products by removing the word ¡®cheese¡¯.
It listed the items as Cheesy Nuggets (now Veg Nuggets), Mc Cheese Veg Burger (now Cheddar Delight Veg Burger), Mc Cheese Veg Non Veg Burger (Cheddar Delight Non-Veg Burger), Corn and Cheese Burger (American Veg Burger), Grilled Chicken and Cheese Burger (American Non Veg-Burger), Blueberry Cheese Cake (Blueberry Cake), Cheesy Italian Veg Burger (Italian Veg Burger) and Cheesy Italian Chicken Burger (now Italian Chicken Burger).
Meanwhile, Hardcastle Restaurant said on Friday that it was engaging with the ¡°competent authorities¡± in the FDA matter.
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