FSSAI proposes ban on sale of analogue ‘paneer’

Why in the News

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed amending its regulations to stop non dairy substitutes being sold as paneer. These are products in which milk fats and milk proteins are replaced with vegetable oils, fats and vegetable proteins. The proposal follows an episode last year in which social media posts alleged that “fake paneer” was served at a Mumbai restaurant. The existing dairy standard already bars vegetable fat from paneer. The contested point is therefore not composition but nomenclature, since a product lawfully licensed as a dairy analogue could still reach the buyer under the name of the dairy product it displaces.

What does the draft amendment on analogue paneer propose?

1. Prohibition on the name: The draft notification prohibits the sale of “paneer made of constituents not derived from milk” as paneer.
2. Stated rationale: The amendment is proposed to restrict the manufacture and sale of analogue products as paneer, to prevent misleading consumers regarding the nature and composition of the product.
3. Existing licence holders: Products already licensed or registered under the Analogue in Dairy Context category must discontinue use of the term paneer in their nomenclature, labelling or marketing.
4. Consultation window: FSSAI has invited suggestions on the draft notification within 60 days.

Why did the existing dairy standard not prevent the name being used?

1. Compositional rule: Under FSSAI’s dairy products standards, paneer may be made only from milk and milk solids.
2. Permitted additions: The standard allows acidulants such as lactic acid, citric acid, malic acid, vinegar, glucono delta-lactone and sour whey, along with salt, spices or condiments.
3. Exclusion of vegetable inputs: Vegetable oils, fats and vegetable proteins are not permitted in paneer under that standard.
4. The naming gap: The standard fixes what paneer may contain. It does not fix what a product outside that standard may be called, so the term travelled to the very products the standard had excluded.

Challenges to the ban on the sale of analogue paneer

1. Detection capacity: Separating vegetable fat from milk fat in a mixed or cooked product needs laboratory testing rather than inspection. Eg. FSSAI’s Food Safety on Wheels mobile vans were introduced to reach districts with no fixed testing laboratory.
   The Fix: Notify a standard test method for vegetable fat in paneer and route samples from unequipped districts to an accredited laboratory.
2. Loose and unbranded sale: A labelling prohibition binds pre packaged food, so paneer sold loose over a counter carries no declaration to check. Eg. Petty food manufacturers and retailers below the turnover threshold in the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 only register rather than take a licence.
   The Fix: Require a composition declaration on a display board at the point of loose sale, on the model of the display duties the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 place on food service establishments.
3. No lawful name for a legitimate product: Barring the term leaves dairy analogues without a name a buyer recognises, which pushes them toward vaguer descriptors. Eg. Vegetable oil based cheese substitutes are sold internationally as analogue cheese rather than as cheese.
   The Fix: Notify a positive naming convention for dairy analogues, so the category carries a lawful name of its own alongside the prohibition.
4. Price advantage in bulk channels: Vegetable fat substitutes cost less than milk based paneer, so commercial kitchens buying in bulk keep the incentive to source them. Eg. Palm oil, the commonest vegetable fat in such substitutes, is India’s largest imported edible oil and trades far below milk fat.
   The Fix: Extend the nomenclature rule to institutional supply invoices and menus, so a bulk buyer sees the same declaration as a retail consumer.

Conclusion

The gap the regulator is closing is one of naming, not of composition. A standard that lists permitted ingredients does not by itself stop a substitute borrowing the name of the product it displaces, and the dairy analogue category gave such products a lawful footing from which to do so. The markers to watch are the final notification once the consultation closes and the compliance date set for existing licence holders.

Back2Basics: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

1. Governing Act: FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which consolidated the earlier food laws including the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
2. Administrative home: It functions under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
3. Mandate: It lays down science based standards for articles of food and regulates their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import.
4. Enforcement route: It licenses or registers food businesses, and standards are enforced through State food safety commissioners and designated officers.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2016] With reference to pre-packaged items in India, it is mandatory to the manufacturer to put which of the following information on the main label, as per the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011? 1. List of ingredients including additives 2. Nutrition information 3. Recommendation, if any, made by the medical profession about the possibility of any allergic reactions 4. Vegetarian/non-vegetarian Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 2, 3 and 4 (c) 1, 2 and 4 (d) 1 and 4 only Answer: (c)”