Millets are good. But is a millet burger healthy?
Mint explains: Customers visiting McDonald’s in southern and western India can now munch on a ‘multi-millet burger bun’, instead of ones made from refined flour. These are not 100% millet buns. Millets—Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Proso and Kodo—make up 22% of the buns.
Millets are more nutritious than refined cereals, gluten-free and fibre-rich. They also have a low glycaemic index—a measure of how food items raise blood glucose levels—making them ideal for diabetics. The millet bun was co-developed with the Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, a premier public institution.
Read more: Diet dilemma: Why India struggles to eat right Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest, a think tank on public health and nutrition, objected to the CFTRI, a government-funded research institute, collaborating with a multinational fast-food giant, saying this contradicts public health goals. It said burger buns are industrial formulations containing additives and preservatives—just adding millets does not make them healthy. Marketing the product as ‘Real Food-Real Good’ and using a celebrity chef to endorse it is ‘misleading’.
Besides, no one eats a bun alone—it comes with the patty. McDonald’s did not respond to queries sent by Mint. Non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension are on the rise. Ultra-processed food is a big contributor to obesity and metabolic disorders.
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