Fake cheese row: FSSAI verifies McDonald's India uses 100% real cheese

India's food regulatory body Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has confirmed that McDonald's India uses 100 per cent real cheese, Westlife Foodworld said in a stock exchange intimation on Tuesday.

"The verification confirms the brand's assertion that it uses 100 per cent real cheese and that it does not use any cheese analogues or substitutes in any of its products," said the company.

Further, the west and south zones of McDonald's India have also received results of tests done by an NABL-accredited lab, confirming the use of 100 per cent real cheese across its products, Westlife said.

Westlife Foodworld is McDonald's biggest Indian franchisee. It operates a chain of McDonald's restaurants in West and South India. It handles close to 380 units across 62 cities in Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry.

McDonald's fake cheese controversy

Westlife Foodworld recently came under fire after one of its outlets reportedly used substitutes in place of real cheese in burgers and nuggets at an outlet in Maharashtra, following which the state government announced an inspection.

"We are planning to check all outlets of McDonald's," Abhimanyu Kale, the FDA chief was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

 "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.

Saurabh Kalra, managing director of Westlife, said that the company overseeing McDonald's operations in west and south India, has addressed concerns raised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Kalra affirmed the company's cooperation with any inspections, asserting that McDonald's maintains the "highest standards."

The FDA had taken action by suspending the license of a McDonald's outlet in Ahmednagar. This led to the removal of the term "cheese" from various menu items. However, the license suspension was later revoked.

The regulatory body accused McDonald's of using cheese analogues without proper disclosure, potentially misleading consumers into believing they were consuming real cheese. The state FDA has urged the fast-food chain to implement corrective measures not only at the local level but also on a broader scale, possibly extending nationally.