US-based coffee chain Starbucks continues to sell several products at its outlets in India, despite the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) having rejected them after risk assessment.
Applications of more than 32 products, including coffee Frappucino, vanilla syrup and hazelnut flavoured syrups used by Starbucks had been rejected by FSSAI in April, reports NDTV Profit.
The coffee chain works in India in partnership with the Tata Group.
The revelation comes in the midst of the Maggi food scandal, where it was revealed that Nestle's popular noodles contains much more than the permissible amount of lead, making it a possible health hazard.
Tata Starbucks CEO Avani Davda was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying: "We are diligently working with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to provide the technical information relating to our pending applications that they have requested.
"As a premium global retailer, Starbucks has the highest standards for the experience, beverages and food we offer our customers and we are committed to complying with the regulations in every market we operate in."
Davda also said that product ingredients imported by the company complied with all applicable authorisations and the products served to its customers across 60 countries were identical to them.
Meanwhile, FSSAI had handed a list of around 500 rejected products to the state food safety commissioners, as of April 30, 2015.
This list includes Kellogg India's 'special K Red berries,' and Field Fresh Foods' natural vinegar, hot sauce (proprietary food) and egg mayonnaise/salad dressing variants.
However, both the companies stated that the products had not been launched in the Indian market as of yet.
