: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed restrictions on the manufacture and sale of paneer made from constituents not derived from milk.
The draft amendment, published on September 24, proposes adding “paneer made of constituents not derived from milk” to the list of substances whose sale is prohibited. Products already licensed or registered as “Analogue in Dairy Context” would have to drop the word “paneer” from their nomenclature, labelling and marketing.
Analogue paneer is different. It is a product designed to resemble paneer in appearance, texture and functionality, but in which some or all of the milk constituents are replaced by ingredients that are not derived from milk. The immediate reason is consumer information. For several years, FSSAI has had provisions governing dairy analogues. But the regulator has increasingly found a problem at the food-service level — a consumer ordering a dish described as paneer may not know that the restaurant is using a non-dairy analogue. Analogue products are specifically designed to resemble their dairy counterparts. Differences in taste, texture or cooking behaviour may sometimes be noticeable, but these are not substitutes for proper labelling or laboratory testing.
FSSAI proposes inserting a new clause in the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, covering “paneer made of constituents not derived from milk. Because consumers generally do not see the original packaging or ingredient declaration used by the restaurant, this is particularly difficult when eating outside the home.
Its guidance says non-dairy products must not be misrepresented as milk or milk-based products. It has also required products for which no specific identity standard exists to carry the word “Analogue” along with the relevant food-category information. In April this year, FSSAI’s West Region issued a public notice specifically stating that selling a cheese analogue as “paneer” was a violation and directed manufacturers and food-service establishments to ensure accurate product naming. The draft says the move is intended to restrict the manufacture and sale of an analogue product to paneer and prevent consumers from being misled about its nature and composition.
