Message From Gautham Mukkavilli - Managing Director FritoLay India

Greetings from FritoLay Family!!
In the recent past, you might have received a chain mail contending that if you burn Kurkure, it would turn to plastic and is, therefore, harmful to health.

At the outset, we wish to assure you that there is NO merit in any of the contentions you have seen in the chain mail. We are sure after going through the details below; you would not only be sure of the quality of the product but would also inform those you know of the same so that unnecessary scare is not created by such malicious mails misleading the consumers. The contents of such malicious mails are, therefore, totally baseless.

Kurkure is new age Namkeen made from Rice meal, Corn meal, Gram Meal, Edible oil, Seasonings, Salt, Spices and Condiments and Flavours (some or all in variants of Kurkure). All the raw materials used in Kurkure comply with the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and Rules that govern the manufacture, distribution and sale of food products in India. All ingredients are such that are used daily in our households for preparation of various food items consumed by the families. Every raw material we receive in our factory for manufacture of Kurkure (e.g. Rice Meal, Corn Meal and Gram meal) is thoroughly checked for all quality parameters and if any ingredient is found not meeting our stringent internal quality parameters or those prescribed in the regulations, the same are rejected and are not used in preparation of food.

The process of making Kurkure involves uniformly mixing these raw materials using water and the mix is extruded (extrusion is a process used for making many food products e.g. noodles, vermicelli, sevai, jalebi, breakfast cereals, pastas etc.), fried in a high-quality edible vegetable oil to develop taste and texture and then application of consumer loveable food flavour. The product undergoes series of quality testing and only quality-approved product is packed into the best packaging laminate using state of the art machinery to ensure delivery of acceptable quality Kurkure to consumers.

You would be delighted to know that Kurkure is made in automated plants in our three manufacturing locations - in Channo (Punjab), Kolkata and Pune. These plants are also audited and certified by various external agencies. These certifications include HACCP (Hazard analysis and critical control point) certification by TQCSI (Australia), which confirms that products are manufactured in Food safety environment and manufacturing has adequate controls to ensure product tracking, American institute of Bakery (USA), one of the best auditing body which confirms process and product safety. Our Plants are ISO 14000 certified which confirms that the manufacturing process ensures environmental safety. Our plants are also certified to ensure that the product, process, environment and people safety have been maintained at very high level and this certification is issued by OHSAS 18001-(Occupational Health and safety assessment series) - (USA).

We look forward to your continued loyalty to our best quality products and would urge you to visit http://www.kurkure.co.in/ for any further information or details you would like to have with regard to product. We wish to take this opportunity to extend our invitation to you to visit any of our plants (Pune, Channo or Kolkata) along with your family and friends to get a first hand feel on the manufacturing process as well as strict quality controls we employ in manufacturing our products. Do leave us a comment or write to us if you wish to seek any further clarification in this regard. It would be our privilege to be of assistance to you.

We from FritoLay are committed to provide safe food products to our consumers.

Cheers!!
Gautham Mukkavilli

Managing Director

(Add : PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (FritoLay Division) 4A, Global Business Park, DLF City - III, Gurgaon - 122002 Haryana, India)
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Comments from our consumers:

Hi Simi,
Thank you very much for such a pro active reply on the allegations. Perhaps this is the first time I am coming across a reply from a company on such chain mails. All Kudos to the team in PepsiCo. As a father of 2 young children you have imbibed a confidence in me to continue to relish your products.
Thank you.
Praveen Velmury
Tata Teleservices - 9246307788 Praveen.velmury@tatatel.co.in

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From: vasan Thatai [mailto:nasav1@rediffmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 4:33 PMTo: Feedback, Consumer {PI}Subject: Re: RE: Seek clarification

Dear Ms. Mehta,Thanks for the elaborate reply. I have any complaints about the quality. Having seen such mails in large number one often gets concerned. I felt to get a first-hand information directly from the manufacturer.....and now I am convinced. Appreciate your prompt response. Yes ! I shall appropriately inform those who create such unnecessary scare.Thanks.Vasan
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Dear Mr. Mehta,

Thanks a lot for your clarification and lovely explanation.Wish you all Good Luck.

With Best Regards,

AN Hariharan
Cipla Ltd
MIDC Patalganga
Dist Raigad
Maharashtra – 410 220

Email ID : 'Hariharan' [anhariharan@cipla.com]



From: Jayaraman K [mailto:kjram55@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:39 AMTo: Shankar, VR {PI}Subject: RE: PLZZZZ DONT EAT "KURKURE" VERY IMPORTANT

Hello Shankar Thanks for the detailed clarification. I am absolutely convinced and if you would send me a carton of Kurkure, I will arrange for free distribution to all the recipients in the chain mail. With best wishes jayaraman.k
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