No artificial colours in our dishes, says KFC

Fast food restaurant chain KFC Friday denied that it uses artificial colours in its rice dishes.

"We only use natural colour (beta carotene) sourced from highly reputed international suppliers in our Rizo Rice meals," KFC said in a statement.

"The recent rice sample collected by FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has also been analysed at an NABL-accredited independent lab at the same time and it confirms that tartrazine or any other synthetic colour is not present in the product," KFC said.

"We are confident of our product quality and are working closely with the regulatory authorities in this matter who have assured that the sample is safe for consumption and no proceedings have been initiated against KFC," it said.

The denial came after the Delhi High Court was informed by the city government's food safety department that samples of rice dishes collected by it from two popular eateries, including KFC, here have been found to be unsafe.

In an affidavit filed before the court, the department said the presence of artificial colour rendered the dishes "unsafe" for human consumption.

Samples taken from KFC's restaurant at Scindia House in Connaught Place of its "Rizo Rice" showed it to be unsafe due to the presence of artificial colour, the affidavit said.

Rice samples collected for testing from Sagar Ratna restaurant in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar also were found to be unsafe.