The popular idli and dosa batter company, iD Fresh Foods, became the centre of a major communal controversy after a WhatsApp forward went viral. The Bengaluru-based company became a victim and the intent behind the message was so intense, iD Fresh Food had to issue a statement debunking the claims.
The claim
A viral WhatsApp forward made some wild allegations against iD Fresh Food, which paints a communal colour. The message claims the company "only hires Muslims" and is "halal certified." The message is also accompanied by a link to a 2014 fundraising announcement of Rs 35 crore, claiming it was the country's first VC deal to strictly adhere to "Shariah Islamic Law."
The message goes on to claim that the company mixes "cow bones and calf rennet" to make volume of the batter.
Fact check
International Business Times reviewed the claims circulating on WhatsApp and social media. Due to the viral nature of the message, iD Fresh issued a statement slamming the fake propaganda. iD Fresh Food items do not use any animal extracts and is completely vegetarian.
"We would like to clearly specify that iD uses only vegetarian ingredients to make its products, iD Idly Dosa Batter is made from rice, urad dal, fenugreek and RO water only, which are 100% natural and vegetarian agri-commodities. There are no animal extracts used in any of our products," ID Fresh Foods said in the statement.
"We proudly manufacture healthy and authentic Indian products with no chemicals or preservatives inside our world-class, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities that fully comply with the Food Safety Management System. Such baseless and fake propaganda is unfortunate and it undermines the trust of millions of ID customers," the statement added.
iD Fresh, established in 2005, now sell their products in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Chennai, Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Cochin, and abroad as well, in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It is present in over 45 markets. It has been awarded Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000 for its manufacturing plants in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Dubai, which is given only after a thorough comprehensive audit, which is proof that the communal WhatsApp forward doesn't hold any water.
Hence, IBTimes has arrived at the conclusion that claims about iD Fresh mixing animal extracts is completely false and baseless.
