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| - Fact Check: No, Maggi doesn't contain pig fat
The flavour enhancer used by Maggi is a plant product made from beetroot and yeast extracts.
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India Today Fact Check
The flavour enhancer used by Maggi is a plant product made from beetroot and yeast extracts.
A video on Facebook claiming that Nestle’s instant noodles brand Maggi contains pig fat is being extensively circulated on social media. A video posted by Facebook page Secret Indian TV’ claims to reveal the truth behind Maggi. It further says flavour enhancer used in packaged food is made from pig fat.
The video was viewed around 6.3 lakh times and shared by more than 9,000 accounts on Facebook.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found this claim to be misleading.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
The video titled in Hindi Maggi Khaate Ho Sach Ko Failao’ (if you eat Maggi then share the truth) starts explaining how pork is being used to enhance the flavour of Lay’s chips and other products such chocolates, corn flakes and packed food. It then goes on to explain how pig fat was used since the 18th century.
Nowhere in the video it directly talks about Maggi, though the claim clearly targets the noodles brand. However, the link between the claim and the video apparently lies in the flavour enhancer part which has been stressed upon in the viral video.
The post says flavour enhancers were coded by international brands so that they could add pig fat slyly. Certain flavour enhancers such as E631 and E635 come from animal fat (E631 particularly from pig fat) which are used in packaged food like Lay’s and Maggi, the viral post claimed.
However, this claim is not new. A simple search on Google yields multiple results where people have claimed the same thing basing their evidence on the flavour enhancer E631/E635.
AFWA has found that none of these claims came from authentic or verified sources.
It’s true that flavour enhancers E635 (Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides) and E631 (Disodium inosinate) are generally made from animal fat, however, they are not the only source of their production.
Nestle has elaborated in its FAQ section that the E635 enhancer that they use in Maggi comes from beetroot and yeast extracts. Lay’s had also clarified in the past that the flavour enhancer E631 comes from tapioca starch, which means that both these flavour enhancers are plant products.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made it mandatory for companies to put a green and red dot on vegetarian and non-vegetarian edibles. Maggi bears a green dot on all its packets (except the chicken flavour). In January 2019, the FSSAI had said Maggi was safe for human consumption.
Hence, the claim that flavour enhancers come from animal fats does not stand its ground.
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