Karnataka bans non-dairy paneer products for one year
Karnataka’s Food Safety and Drugs Administration has issued a one-year prohibition on analogue paneer products that resemble conventional paneer or are used as its substitute. The measure applies to food businesses involved in making, processing, packing, storing, distributing, transporting or selling such products in the state.
The order covers products in which milk fat or milk solids are partly or wholly replaced by vegetable oil, vegetable fat or other non-dairy ingredients. During the prohibition, these products may not be displayed, supplied or sold under the name “paneer” in Karnataka. The restriction also applies when restaurants, caterers, manufacturers or other commercial establishments use, store or supply them while preparing other dishes.
The administration’s order refers to paneer as a standardised food under Regulation 2.1.16 of India’s Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. It defines paneer as a product made from milk, with or without permitted milk solids, by precipitation with approved acidulants followed by heating. Milk fat is identified in the order as an essential component, meaning that a product marketed as standardised paneer cannot replace it with vegetable or other non-dairy fat.
The FDA said enforcement has been complicated by the absence of specific quality standards for some products classified as “Analogue in Dairy Context”. It cited the possibility that consumers could buy or eat such products believing them to be genuine paneer, particularly when the products have similar descriptions, appearances or culinary uses. The order focuses on preventing products with substituted ingredients from being represented as standard paneer.
Labelling is also addressed. Products containing substituted milk components or other non-dairy ingredients must carry the declarations required under applicable food-labelling rules. Those declarations are intended to identify the product’s actual nature and ingredients rather than allow it to be presented simply as paneer.
The measure is not a prohibition on every food containing non-dairy ingredients. It excludes products that have their own prescribed standards and are separately regulated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Frozen desserts, processed cheese and mixed fat spread are cited as examples of products outside the order when they comply with their respective requirements.
Restaurants, hotels, caterers, food manufacturers and retailers will need to check products labelled or used as paneer against the applicable standards. Businesses that use paneer in prepared foods may also need to verify the composition and supplier documentation of the products they procure. Producers of dairy analogues may have to review their formulations, labels and marketing practices to comply with the order.
