Cereal Maker Says It’s Confident Problem With ‘Nut Delight’ Is Isolated
Chennai/Mumbai:
MNC breakfast cereal maker Kellogg India is investigating a possible
bug contamination in a particular variant of its muesli range, something
which routinely impacts processed food products worth several billions
of dollars in the country.
According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the issue came to light following a complaint from a Mumbai-based MNC investment broking firm which served the cereal at their staff canteen for breakfast.
When contacted by TOI, the company confirmed the complaint and said an investigation was in progress. “We received a few complaints indicating that one particular variant of muesli (Nut Delight) did not meet our strict quality requirements,” said a statement from the company’s official spokesperson. “As part of the standard global complaint handling procedure at the company, we checked our control samples and they were found to conform to our stringent quality parameters. We are confident that this quality concern is isolated, and we are investigating all potential causes including investigating the distribution chain. As part of this process, we have collected samples from across the supply chain,” the statement added.
“As a responsible organization, we try and understand the root cause of all consumer complaints, irrespective of the source of such complaints whether in the supply chain or inappropriate storage in consumer homes, so that we can take adequate remedial measures to correct or educate,” the statement said. “At Kellogg India, quality of our foods is our number one priority and we will continue to work closely with all our partners to uphold our strict quality standards,” the statement further added.
Bug contamination isn’t new in India’s fast-growing packaged food market which, experts say, is set to touch $30 billion by 2015. According to a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Assocham), the industry will double itself in the next two-three years from $15 billion in 2012 on the back of a healthy 15-20% growth rate annually.
Ten years ago, Cadbury India faced a similar problem of a few instances of worm contamination in its Dairy Milk chocolate bars and the company used a big ticket celebrity endorser — Amitabh Bachchan — and a high-decibel campaign for a new, improved packaging to drive home the point that it had investigated the issue and taken corrective measures. On occasions, contamination has also been found in soft drink bottles.
In February this year, Kellogg had a US recall when it took back 36,000 boxes of its Special K Red Berries cereal for possible glass fragments. This is the first time that Kellogg has received complaints of this nature in India, say sources.
According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the issue came to light following a complaint from a Mumbai-based MNC investment broking firm which served the cereal at their staff canteen for breakfast.
When contacted by TOI, the company confirmed the complaint and said an investigation was in progress. “We received a few complaints indicating that one particular variant of muesli (Nut Delight) did not meet our strict quality requirements,” said a statement from the company’s official spokesperson. “As part of the standard global complaint handling procedure at the company, we checked our control samples and they were found to conform to our stringent quality parameters. We are confident that this quality concern is isolated, and we are investigating all potential causes including investigating the distribution chain. As part of this process, we have collected samples from across the supply chain,” the statement added.
“As a responsible organization, we try and understand the root cause of all consumer complaints, irrespective of the source of such complaints whether in the supply chain or inappropriate storage in consumer homes, so that we can take adequate remedial measures to correct or educate,” the statement said. “At Kellogg India, quality of our foods is our number one priority and we will continue to work closely with all our partners to uphold our strict quality standards,” the statement further added.
Bug contamination isn’t new in India’s fast-growing packaged food market which, experts say, is set to touch $30 billion by 2015. According to a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Assocham), the industry will double itself in the next two-three years from $15 billion in 2012 on the back of a healthy 15-20% growth rate annually.
Ten years ago, Cadbury India faced a similar problem of a few instances of worm contamination in its Dairy Milk chocolate bars and the company used a big ticket celebrity endorser — Amitabh Bachchan — and a high-decibel campaign for a new, improved packaging to drive home the point that it had investigated the issue and taken corrective measures. On occasions, contamination has also been found in soft drink bottles.
In February this year, Kellogg had a US recall when it took back 36,000 boxes of its Special K Red Berries cereal for possible glass fragments. This is the first time that Kellogg has received complaints of this nature in India, say sources.
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