Chocolates removed from milk product category

Companies such as Nestle and Cadbury can now do away with cost audits for chocolate products, with the ministry of company affairs set to notify that chocolates would not be considered under the category of milk product.

Other products that would be excluded from the purview of cost audits are ice-cream and desi ghee, under any brand name.

The move, however, may not go down well with various consumer forums, who argue that companies have built up their brands by projecting their goods as milk products.

"The cost audit is the way to check quality, as the report contains detail about raw materials used and their quantity," a representative of consumer Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Panchayat said.

The ministry has termed the change as a continuing effort to simplify corporate laws and regulations. "We had received several representations from trade chambers that the earlier definition of milk product was too broad, which created confusion," Prem Chand Gupta, minister of state for company affairs, said.

The industry groups, including chambers such as the Confederation of Indian Industry had represented to the ministry of company affairs for removal of energy and malt drinks from the list also. These products, however, have been retained.

Once the notification comes into effect, companies such as Nestle would be able to save on their compliance cost and time. Industry experts also say that these companies would be able to keep their brand specific strategic information secret.