A screenshot of the confectionary brand Cadbury’s webpage mentioning that the gelatine used in their products is halal certified and derived from beef is being shared widely. Citing this, many social media users in India have called for the boycott of the Cadbury products in India. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Cadbury’s website mentions that the ingredients used in their products sold in India are derived from beef.
Fact: The screenshot shows an old version of the Cadbury Australia’s website. When the same screenshot went viral in 2021, the company clarified that all the products manufactured and sold in India are 100% vegetarian which is indicated by green dot on the packs as per FSSAI regulations. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Upon looking at the top-level domain name of the website given in the screenshot, it is evident that it belongs to Australia(.au) and not India(.in). The company’s Indian website doesn’t contain any such information as seen in the Viral post.
We searched for more information about this issue on the Cadbury Australia’s website. The current website uses the words ‘Australian Products’ instead of ‘Products’ seen in the viral image.
We found a tweet made by ‘Cadbury Dairy Milk’ on 18 July 2021, clarifying that the viral screenshot is not related to Mondelez products (parent company of Cadbury) manufactured in India and all the products manufactured and sold in India are 100% vegetarian which is indicated by green dot on the wrapper.
Moreover, the company released a caution notice on the same day regarding this issue and asked the users to check the facts before sharing it.
As per the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) regulations, every package of vegetarian food shall display a symbol of green dot inside the green square on the package.
Further we found that the archived version of the webpage from 17 July 2022, used the word ‘Products’ as seen in viral post. However, since October 2021, it shows ‘Australian Products’ instead of just ‘products’ to avoid any confusion.
To sum it up, Cadbury clarified that all their products manufactured and sold in India are 100% vegetarian; Viral screenshot shows old Australian website.
