The CEO of iD Fresh Foods Musthafa PC has issued a statement condemning the fake communal message that has gone viral on WhatsApp and other social media platforms over the past few days. A fake WhatsApp forward had claimed that the company uses “cow bones” in their products. iD Fresh Food is best known for its ready-to-cook packaged Indian foods, like idli and dosa batter, parottas, paneer, curd, etc. The WhatsApp forward had said that the company “mix Cows Bones & Calf Rennet to make Volume of the Batter” and that the company “employs only Muslims and it is Halal certified.”
The message had gone viral on WhatsApp and was being forwarded en masse, forcing iD foods to issue a statement. Shortly after, Musthafa also tweeted out a statement rubbishing the WhatsApp forward, and said that the statement was issued as any kind of misinformation should be countered.
“Over the last few days, several customers have been reaching out to me, concerned about dubious social media posts and forwards regarding iD products. While I don't know why these claims are being made or 'who’ is behind this conspiracy to malign the brand, I can tell you with 100% conviction that none of it is true,” wrote Musthafa, adding that initially they decided to ignore the rumours but, later issued an official statement based on requests from well-wishers.
“As a society though, we need to step up and stop the spread of misinformation. Particularly in today's times when the reach and effects of information spread on social media occur at such a rapid pace. We have seen distorted, inaccurate and false information acquiring tremendous potential to cause real world impact for millions of people,” Musthafa wrote.
“Whether it's about iD products or the vaccines against COVID-19, harmful claims that are not backed by sound evidence need to be called out. It is important and necessary,” he said. “All our products use the finest vegetarian ingredients and are manufactured in world-class, state-of-the-art facilities that fully comply with the Food Safety Management System. As a brand that embraces trust-based business models, we are passionate about fostering a culture of trust, transparency and diversity. And we are grateful to our customers, who have been our biggest brand ambassadors, for their continued faith in us,” he added.
— Musthafa PC (@Musthafa_PC) September 7, 2021
iD Fresh Foods was founded in Bengaluru in the year 2005, by its current CEO PC Musthafa and his four cousins Abdul Nazer, Shamsudeen TK, Jafar TK and Noushad TA. Their products are now sold in many locations including Mysuru, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Chennai, Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Cochin, and abroad as well, in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
After the WhatsApp message went viral, iD Fresh Foods also issued a statement. Read their full statement here:
“Some consumers have received a WhatsApp forward message carrying misleading, false and baseless information about iD using animal extracts in its products. Since the intensity of misinformation being spread is high this time around, we thought we should issue an official statement,” iD Fresh Foods said. “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."
“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,” the statement added. “Such baseless and fake propaganda is unfortunate and it undermines the trust of millions of ID customers."