Akshay Kumar to promote Kwality products, roped in as brand ambassador

The latest fast food battle is all about mac and cheese. Earlier, the American fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A rolled out its new mac and cheese side.

Now, KFC is debuting Mac & Cheese Bowls. Using its legendary Mac & Cheese as a base, the new Bowl offering also includes Popcorn Chicken before being topped with a delectable Three-Cheese Blend.

Andrea Zahumensky, Chief Marketer of KFC US, said, “Mac and Cheese has a cult-like following, and bowl food is a trend that isn't going away anytime soon. So, it made perfect sense to call up a favorite side dish to the big leagues, in a way that only we could, with Mac and Cheese Bowls."

KFC said, “Arriving just in time for "back to school" season, the new Mac & Cheese Bowl $5 Fill Up comes complete with a medium drink and chocolate chip cookie. It's an abundant, convenient, filling and affordable meal that's a perfect grab-n-go dinner (or lunch!) for the whole family for just $5 (price and participation may vary; tax extra). In addition to Mac & Cheese Bowls, KFC offers a full line up of $5 Fill Ups, featuring KFC's world-famous fried chicken, Pot Pies and Famous Bowls.”

The food processing park at Vinchur, about 60 kms from Nashik, has got its first investment worth Rs 200 crore. The two food processing plants are expected to become operational within the next one-and-a-half years.

Nashik firm Siva Sai Export and Andhra Pradesh firm Polysetty Somasundaram Agro have finalised their investments to set up units at the food processing park.

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has already allotted 17 acres to Siva Sai Export and 7.5 acres to Polysetty Soma at the food processing park, located adjacent to Vinchur Wine Park, near Niphad.

Polysetty Somasundaram Agro is setting up a dehydration plant for onions and other vegetables at an investment of Rs 100 crore, which will generate 1,600 direct and indirect jobs and involve close to 40,000 farmers through contract farming.

“We are setting up a plant to dehydrate onions, garlic, carrot and beetroot. The processing capacity will be around 40,000 metric tonnes per annum. We will outsource production of onions and other vegetables through contract farming with around 45,000 farmers.” Shared company in a statement.

Siva Sai Export is setting up the food processing unit at an investment of Rs 100 crore, which will provide direct and indirect employment to 3,500 people. Apart from this, it will involve around 30,000 farmers into contract farming.

“We are already exporting frozen fruits and vegetables to Russia. Our new food processing plant at Vinchur will be an export-oriented unit. The processing capacity of the plant will be 10 metric tonnes per hour,” said the sources from Siva Sai Exports.

Nestle India said that proceedings before the NCDRC have been stayed by the Supreme Court. An appeal filed by Nestle against the NCDRC orders dated last week had come up for hearing before Supreme Court, and the court has directed that proceedings before the NCDRC are stayed.

"As against the directions of NCDRC to send the samples for testing to the export inspection agency, Nestle has consented to send the same samples to a NABL accredited government referral laboratory," said Nestle in a statement.

Reports of 13 samples have already been sent to CFTRI Mysore and the additional 16 which are being sent to CFTRI are to be forwarded to the Supreme Court instead of NCDRC, the foods maker added.

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday sought the Centre's response against an order for testing of 16 more samples of Maggi noodles in connection with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC)'s Rs 640 crore suit against the company for alleged unfair trade practices. Nestle, on its part, has challenged the NCDRC order, directing further testing of 16 more samples.

The government had petitioned that Nestle India had 'indulged in unfair trade practices by false labelling of Maggi noodles.

Burger King, the global burger chain which is already selling black bun burgers in Japan is planning to sell the same burgers in the US.

The new Halloween Whopper features a beef patty with American cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, A.1. steak sauce, pickles, and onions.

According to the statement by BK, the pitch-black bun has A.1. sauce baked into the bread.

Burger King released two all-black burgers in Japan last September with black buns, black cheese, and black sauce. This summer, the company released a bright red burger dyed with tomato powder, as well as new black burger with deep-fried eggplant.

"At the moment we don't have much ad budget in our hands, so we do almost everything by ourselves. We are not using any creative agencies for these products. And this way we don't need any big money to expand our awareness in the market,” shared Masaniri Tatsuiwa, GM for Burger King Japan with AdWeek.

The sandwiches are instead a marketing scheme meant to offset the company's slim ad budget in Japan, added the company.

Burger King has fewer than 93 restaurants in Japan, while McDonald's has about 3,000, by comparison.

The company's strategy with the colored burgers appears to be working. Nearly every major media organization in Japan and the US, including Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Forbes, and The Japan Times has written stories about Burger King's oddly-colored burgers.

And customers have been posting hundreds of photos of the burgers online.

That's why Burger King decided to bring them to the US, Burger King Chief Marketing Officer Eric Hirschhorn said in a statement.

"Our US guests have been extremely curious about the bun flavors they've seen introduced in Japan and other countries, so we saw the opportunity to bring them an equally unique experience," Hirschhorn said.

"We tailored the flavor of the black bun to the American palate with A.1. sauce, a flavor this country loves, and we're delivering it in a way that's never been done before by baking it into the bun. It may look Japanese but it tastes like America."

The burgers will be available for a limited time for $4.99.

Food and Drugs Administration, Maharashtra, today argued in the Bombay High Court that Nestle India had burnt several tones of Maggi after the state's ban order was imposed on this food snack, instead of going in for a re-test of the samples, reported PTI.

"If the company was so confident about safe features of its product, it should have come forward and requested us to go for a re-test of the samples or it could have offered other samples for a fresh examination," FDA counsel Darius Khambata submitted before justices V M Kanade and B P Colabawala.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Nestle against FSSAI's on 5th June order banning nine variants of Maggi and Maharashtra government's order prohibiting their sale.

20 samples of Maggi were selected at random by FDA for the test and five of them tested positive for containing lead beyond permissible limit. This was enough for FDA to issue notice to stop production and sale of all the nine variants of Maggi, Khambata said.

He further argued that if the company suspected that the FDA reports were not correct then it could have made a complaint before the food regulator to send the samples to an accredited lab in Pune or Nagpur, instead of rushing to the high court to challenge the ban imposed on production and sale of the product.

"Instead, Nestle chose to send samples to labs in London, New York and Paris and placed 2700 test reports before us (FDA) to show that lead content was proper," he said. FDA counsel also rightly said on the ban that after tests when FDA found lead content in Maggi to be beyond permissible limit, it issued an order banning the product.

Additionally, FDA had sent lab test reports to Nestle but the company has not included these in the petition, thereby suppressing this fact from the high court, he said.

FSSAI and FDA both of them claimed that they had issued notices to Nestle India keeping in mind the health hazards that the product may have had due to the high lead content.  

Food and Drugs Administration of Uttar Pradesh has raided a departmental store in Rajendra Nagar area of Sahibabad and found that it was displaying expired food items, reported PTI.

FDA inspector Yaduveer Singh Yadav told that during its routine exercise the team reached Vishal Mega Mart and searched its counters for various eatable items being displayed for sale.

During the inspection, the team found 20 packets of a sweet dish, displayed on the counters which have expired.

A video film of the displayed items was also taken by FDA team as evidence.

Rice and black gram were also found to be infested with weevil moths, bugs and borers. They were also on display on counters for "loose sale".

Sample of soan papdi (4 packets), rice and black gram were seized by the FDA team.

The store manager was directed to destroy rice (50 kg), black grams (80 kg) and 16 packets of 'soan papdi' in presence of FDA officials, the officer said.

Seized samples will be sent to laboratory for testing, he said.

Head of HR department of Vishal Mega Mart, Rajesh Mishra, said that the expired 'soan papdi' was stored in their warehouse where customers don't have any access.

But, he, accepted that rice and black gram was infested due to moisture.

Mishra said that some of the expired products are taken back by the manufacturers while remaining items are destroyed at regular intervals.

The recently renovated Sura Vie by TYC at Connaught Place is introducing a range of Special Combo Platters featuring lip-smacking dishes from world cuisine.

This special combo menu has been carefully designed by Chef Extraordinaire Sanjeev Kapoor’s Team of experts, led by Master Chef Saurabh Saxena who heads Sura Vie Kitchens and Operations.

The gastronomic variety features an eclectic mix of scrumptious delicacies from world cuisine.

From Indian, Mughlai and Mezze to Italian, Continental and Chinese; the customers can taste variety of authentic flavors that includes popular as well as pioneering dishes to create a luxurious experience.

They have perfect combos and exciting offers on alcoholic beverages which will fulfill a complete dining experience.

The menu includes combo platters like Tandoori Combo, Makhani Maza, Curry in a Hurry, Pao Dog Hinglish Burger, Keema Buns, Biryani Bombo, Hakka Bakka, Satay, Dimsums, Mezze, Steak Griddle, Pizzaah, Pasta and Nachos.

The combo Platters start with Rs 699 plus taxes and the special offers i.e. happy hours, featuring one plus two on imported liquor & on plus one on IMFL and Beer. The timings are 12 pm to 8 pm and seven days open.

After coming on hot stove in India, Maggi is now under scanner in the US market.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is testing samples of Nestle instant noodle, a spokeswoman for the Swiss food group informed.

Nestle, one of the world's largest food company, is seeking to defend its reputation in India after it pulled Maggi instant noodles from stores following reports by state regulators that some packets contained excess lead.

"We have been made aware that the FDA has taken samples of Maggi noodles manufactured in India from third-party importers' containers for testing, and we have asked the importers to advise us of the outcome of the FDA tests," the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The FDA was not immediately available for comment.

Nestle does not import, market or distribute Maggi noodles in the United States, the spokeswoman said. Any Maggi noodle products in US stores are sourced by retailers or imported through third parties, added the lady.

In a separate statement, Nestle India said it had lodged a judicial review with the Bombay High Court over an order from India's Food and Drug Administration, effectively seeking to clarify the state's method of testing the noodles.  

Nestle India which is facing controversy over its Maggi noodle from last two weeks, today said it has not received any order from the central or any state FDA authority for recall of its Maggi noodles as the controversy over safety issues deepened, reported PTI.

"We have not received any official communication from the authorities so far," Nestle said in a BSE filing.

The statement further added, “We wish to state that we have till now not received any orders from any state or Centre FDA authorities to recall Maggi noodle products in the market except an order from the Uttar Pradesh FDA dated 30.4.2015 asking us to recall a batch of Maggi noodles manufactured in February 2014, which had already reached the 'Best Before date' in November 2014."

Also, Future Retail, owned by Kishori Biyani led Future Group has stopped selling Maggi in its retail outlets.

"In the interest of consumer sentiment and concerns, we have taken Maggi noodles off the shelves from all our stores for the time being. We will wait for more clarity from authorities to take any further course of action," commented a Future Group Spokesperson.

Modern trade retail outlets like Big Bazaar contribute a large chunk of sales for FMCG firms, including Nestle.

Also, the Delhi government decided to initiate a case against Nestle India after it found samples of Maggi noodles "unsafe" for consumption. The govt’s health miniter also met Nestle officials over safety issues prevailing in Maggi noodles.