The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined Pladis India Pvt. Ltd., formerly known as United Biscuits, Rs 1 lakh for misleading consumers over its McVitie's Wholewheat Marie biscuits. The packaging prominently displays the word "Wholewheat" along with images of wheat stalks, but the ingredient list shows the biscuit is actually made of 52% refined flour (maida) and only 19.5% whole wheat flour.
CCPA's order says the case began after a news article referenced a social media video by Harsh Goenka, who had raised concerns about packaged foods being marketed as "healthy," "natural" or "organic" despite their ingredient lists telling a different story. The article specifically pointed out that some biscuits labelled "whole wheat" contained more refined flour than actual wheat, and warned that such products were also reaching rural markets with limited exposure to social media scrutiny.
