Mumbai : The apex food safety standards regulator of India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the administration of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has officially verified that McDonald’s India utilizes ‘100% Real Cheese’. This confirmation validates the brand’s claim that it exclusively uses authentic cheese and refrains from incorporating any cheese analogues or substitutes in its products.
The confirmation from FSSAI explicitly states, “Articles in question contain Cheese or cheese product as a part of composition and does not contain analogue in dairy context in any form.” This endorsement underscores McDonald’s India’s steadfast commitment to maintaining stringent food quality standards across all its restaurants consistently.
Established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, FSSAI is empowered as the apex regulator concerning food law and food standards in India. It formulates, issues, and establishes food regulations and standards applicable nationwide, binding both food businesses and governmental food and health authorities at various levels.
Additionally, McDonald’s India (W&S) has received test results from a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited lab, further confirming the use of 100% Real Cheese across its products. McDonald’s India (W&S) places great importance on sourcing authentic ingredients from globally recognized and approved suppliers, ensuring the highest standards of food quality for its customers. As part of its rigorous and mandatory process, all the company’s suppliers undergo thorough testing of their products twice a year by independent NABL-accredited food testing labs. For instance, even before recent media coverage, the brand’s cheese had already undergone and passed evaluations as of September 2023.
Saurabh Kalra, Managing Director of McDonald’s India (W&S), remarked, “The endorsement we have received from FSSAI, India’s apex food safety standards regulator, confirms that our products incorporate 100% Real cheese, sourced from globally renowned suppliers. The recent tests conducted by NABL-accredited labs further reinforce this assurance, confirming the absence of any cheese analogues or substitutes in our products. Since our establishment in 1996, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to upholding the highest standards of food quality. We assure our customers and stakeholders that all our products are meticulously crafted with genuine, quality ingredients, without any compromises whatsoever.”