India’s ‘real cheese’ crackdown on McDonald’s sparks wider fast-food chain probe on KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino’s

It renamed a “corn and cheese burger” as an “American vegetarian burger”, for example.

Inspectors of the state’s Food and Drug Administration will now visit all McDonald’s outlets, as well as those of other major brands, to check for similar violations of display and labelling rules, its chief, Abhimanyu Kale, told Reuters.

“We are planning to check all outlets of McDonald’s,” he said.

“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.

Another senior state government official, who sought anonymity, said inspectors would visit Indian franchisee outlets of brands such as Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King and KFC.

Indian state authorities have the power to suspend the licences of restaurants found to have infringed food and safety regulations in a way that misleads consumers.

Westlife, which runs McDonald’s in west and south India, will welcome any inspections and maintains the “highest standards”, its managing director, Saurabh Kalra, said.

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Domino’s franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks, Burger King operator Restaurant Brands Asia and Devyani International, which operates Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut and KFC in India, did not respond to Reuters queries.

Another Pizza Hut operator, India’s Sapphire Foods, declined to comment.

India’s western state of Maharashtra is its second most populous. Home to the financial capital Mumbai and many urban cities, it is a key market for global fast-food brands.

In the McDonald’s case, state food inspectors suspended the licence of one outlet east of Mumbai in November for allegedly using analogues in products promoted as containing cheese.

Our cheese is made from real milk only, and we do not use any substitutes or cheese analogues

“Our cheese is made from real milk only, and we do not use any substitutes or cheese analogues,” it said on Monday.

The suspension was later revoked on appeal by Westlife, the McDonald’s franchisee.

The company reassured many consumers online who voiced concerns about its cheese offerings, saying on social network X that it uses “globally approved gold-standard suppliers”.

“Our cheese is made from real milk only, and we do not use any substitutes or cheese analogues,” it said on Monday.