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E/N: Originally published in December 2017. It is being republished since it still remains an interesting topic till today.
For quite a few years, Kurkure has had to endure the constant suspicion from customers and people that there might be plastic present within the chips.
This suspicion came about when a few years ago, a video went viral wherein a person showed them burning Kurkure and all that was left was plastic residue.
This resulted in mass breakage of trust across the country for many loyal customers of the brand and many gave up in search of a more ‘safe’ brand.
However, it finally seems that after many people having assured of the fact that there is no plastic in these chips, and the company having given enough proof, people might be coming around to the fact that Kurkure might be safe to eat.
The Company’s Proof
As per the company PepsiCo’s official website, a caution notice has been uploaded that declares Kurkure as safe to consume. In the letter, they have stated that the chips are completely and 100% safe, vegetarian and made from ingredients like rice, corn, salt, besan, vegetable oil and spices in keeping with the regulations required in the country.
In September of this year, the company even held an event where young women bloggers could come and view the production process for themselves and record if anything out of order or suspicious was happening.
The Scientific Proof
As per certain sources, the reason why Kurkure burns when set alight on fire is due to the high amount of oil in it. Most such fried foods or those with a high level of fat quantity will burn, much the same like papad, khakhra, mathri, various snacks. They burn due to the low amount of water but high amount of fat and carbohydrates that is present in these foods.
There was even news of AIIMS having cleared the product and confirmed that there was no plastic used in the manufacturing of the product. However, that letter is not to be found anywhere, to attest to its authenticity.
Read More: Do You Know That Drugs Are Used In Food Items To Enhance Its Taste?
What The People Say
A lot of people have come forward especially in wake of the latest event held by the PepsiCo company where in an effort to make everything as transparent as possible they invited several young women bloggers to view the entire process of how these chips are made with their very own eyes.
Several blogs and videos have also come forward that one can view in order to see the how authentic the process is and how exactly are these chips made.
When an unannounced audit was done, the Kurkure’s Kolkata facility was ranked the highest among India in practically all standards.
The Social Media Sheep Nature
The videos of Kurkure being plastic, Maggi noddles having insects, blood in Frooti and more were perhaps one of the first such kind of viral videos that came about from the very new and baby social media in India.
They created a frenzy and due to the fact that it was a video, people readily believed them without really making sure whether the video itself was true or not.
Not saying that they are ‘healthy’ to eat, as most snack foods go you should not overconsume them since they are fried and have a lot spices and masala added to them. But as far as the plastic rumour goes that, seems baseless and should not be a reason to not eat Kurkure.
This just proves, to not blindly trust something is good or bad in this case without having made sure of it yourself.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Hoax Or Fact, Business Standard, PepsiCo
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