A Mondelez India spokesperson confirmed to Fact Crescendo that Cadbury Dairy Milk is a vegetarian product in India.
With Diwali approaching, Cadbury chocolates are among the most popular treats shared and enjoyed during the festivities. Imagine the surprise and shock if someone were to suddenly claim that these beloved chocolates contain beef.
A graphic poster circulating on social media claims that all Cadbury Dairy Milk products are forbidden for Hindus because they are made of ‘beef’. Sharing this poster, the user said that Cadbury Dairy Milk itself has agreed that their products contain beef and all their products are Halal certified.
The caption of the viral post states “Sanatani note what Cadbury says. Boycott its products.
Cadbury company has accepted that beef is mixed in chocolates (Dairy Milk, Five Star etc.), eat it if you wish. Please contribute in spreading this information to every chocolate lover.”
Fact Check-
We started the investigation by searching the number shown (+03 9676 2530) in the viral picture, the result shows that this is the website of Cadbury in Australia (https://www.cadbury.com.au/). According to the address given on the website, this company is located in Melbourne, Australia.
According to the information given about Halal on this website, the product present on the website is Halal certified and contains beef. From this we can clearly see that the viral screenshot is of the website of Cadbury Australia.
What does Cadbury Dairy Milk have to say about this?
Further, Fact Crescendo reached out to Mondelez India Foods Pvt Ltd’s Mondelez India spokesperson Rakhi Bansal. She told us that “All products manufactured and sold in India are 100% vegetarian. The green dot on the wrapper is a symbol of this. As you can well imagine, such negative posts damage consumer trust in our respected and loved brands. We request our consumers to please verify the facts related to our products before sharing them further.”
We further found a response from the Twitter account of Cadbury Dairy Milk to a user, in which they wrote that “The viral screenshot is not of a Mondelez product manufactured in India. All products manufactured and sold in India are 100% vegetarian. The green dot on the wrapper is a symbol of this.”
Apart from this, we found a clarification given by Cadbury Dairy Milk on their Twitter account where all the products of Cadbury India are stated to be vegetarian.
What does the green dot indicate?
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) uses different coloured dots to indicate whether the product is vegetarian, non-vegetarian or contains eggs.
The FSSAI website states that this declaration on every package of vegetarian food shall be indicated by a symbol and a ‘Green’ color code for the purpose that the product is vegetarian food. The symbol shall consist of a green filled circle.
The website also mentions that products containing pork fat, lard and beef fat or its extracts shall be declared by their specific names.
Below you can see a packet of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate available for sale on Amazon India. It has a green dot as mandated by FSSAI.
What is Halal Product?
Halal originates from the Arabic words Halla, Yahillu, Hilan and Wahalan, which mean permitted or permissible by Islamic Shari’ah law. When food or goods are described as Halal that the food or goods can be consumed or used by a Muslim. Such expression means that the food or goods are:
1. Does not contain anything impure/‘najis’ according to Islamic Shari’ah law and fatwa
2. Does not contain any part of human being or his produce which is not permitted by Islamic Shari’ah law and fatwa
3. Food products must not contain anything impure or najis which can be divided into 3 categories:
a) (severe) such as dogs, pigs and their progeny or born from one of them;
b) (moderate) which is with the exception of the above two, such as blood, pus, feces and etc.; and
c) (mild) means the urine of a child who is exclusively breastfed and has not reached the age of two years.
Conclusion-
After checking the facts, we found the claim made through the viral graphic card to be false. All Cadbury Dairy Milk products are not prohibited for Hindus in India. Cadbury Dairy Milk manufactured by Mondelez India Foods Pvt Ltd in India is of vegetarian origin. It does not contain beef.
