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Analysis of ash content in food, for the uninitiated, involves the burning away of organic content, leaving inorganic minerals On Wednesday, instant noodle brand Maggi was in the spotlight for failing laboratory tests conducted in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The current run-in coming after the lead-in-noodle issue that surfaced in May 2015 and was finally settled in 2016. This time food regulators found excess presence of ash content in Maggi, manufactured and marketed by Nestlé India, points to the difficult relationship shared by the company and the regulator. Nestlé, however, is not the only company to come under regulatory scanner in the past few months. Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved was twice in the news this year for food safety violations pertaining to its atta noodles and amla juice, respectively. Earlier in the year, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked Hardcastle Restaurants, which runs McDonald’s outlets in west and south India, to serve ...

KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino's, McDonald's outlets selling toxic breads: CSE study Major multinational fast food outlets — KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Subway and McDonald’s — are selling pizzas and burgers made of breads laced with toxins such as potassium bromate and potassium iodate, says the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). “Except   Domino’s , others have denied use (of these chemicals) in a response to CSE,” went its press statement on the study, limited to the geographical area of Delhi. Domino's did not respond to the CSE queries Potassium bromate is a Category 2B carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer. Potassium iodate could trigger thyroid disorders. According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, the   Food Safety   and Standards Authority of India said it had decided to remove potassium bromate from the list of permitted additives, while it was examining evidence against potassium iodate before restricting its use. CSE had urged the food regulat...