Fact Check: No animal oil or beef oil used in Haldiram’s packet

New Delhi, Apr 16: Snack food giant Haldiram's was trending on twitter after a video accusing it of misleading consumers by describing a product's ingredients in Urdu language on its label came to the fore.

In the viral video clip, a news reporter is seen asking the Haldiram's outlet representative what it is trying to hide by using Urdu, what is the "lie" it wants to serve and why the Urdu description is not there in the other packets. She also alludes to animal oil or beef oil in the report.

The video even triggered furious discussion on various platforms. However, a fact check revealed that the script on the "Falhari Mixture" packet is not in Urdu but Arabic, apparently to cater to the export market in Gulf countries. Moreover, the list of ingredients is in keeping with the 'green' label on the packet.

Haldiram's, arguably the biggest brand in packaged snacks, all vegetarian, and also famed for its range of sweets and 'chaat', was trending on Twitter earlier this month.

The script on the Haldiram's packet is in Arabic, confirmed Mahfooz Khan, a professor of Urdu at Delhi's Jamia Milia Islamia University.

"The two languages are completely different, they belong to different families of languages. While Arabic belongs to the family of Semitic languages, Urdu is from the family of Indo-Aryan languages," he told PTI.

Haldiram's, like other big brands, including Parle, Patanjali, MTR and Mother's Recipe, sells a wide range of products in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and other Gulf countries.

All brands wanting to sell in these countries carry a description of the product and ingredients in English as well as the local language, which is Arabic.

Haldiram's 'Falhari Mixture', consumed by people who fast during the nine-day Hindu festival of Navratri, too, followed the same format. Those fasting during Navratri do not consume non-vegetarian food.