Put simply, the bottom line is that going forward, the term paneer will be reserved exclusively for food products made entirely from milk. New regulations are currently in the pipeline to enforce this standard. The general public has been surprised to learn that the paneer previously available in the market was not always made from milk. Indeed, this was the core of the issue, where genuine milk-based paneer was sold under the same name as products manufactured from vegetable fats like palm oil, which were also marketed as paneer. Technically, rules required calling it analogue paneer, but because the word paneer remained part of the name, consumers were naturally misled. In response, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has issued a draft notification, meaning the proposal is not yet a law but a formal proposition open for objections and suggestions over a 60-day period spanning two months.
Targeting Misleading Names and Marketing Practices
The proposed regulation stipulates that products not manufactured from milk should no longer be produced, sold, packaged, or marketed under the name paneer. This intervention became necessary because such practices were previously permitted under specific guidelines. Companies routinely obtained licenses under the category of analogue in dairy context, allowing them to create paneer-like substances using ingredients such as palm oil and market them under the analogue paneer label. Analogue does not imply that the product is fake, adulterated, or poisonous; rather, it simply means it resembles paneer. Traditional paneer is made by boiling milk, adding lemon juice, vinegar, or citric acid to curdle it, draining the whey, and pressing the solids. In contrast, analogue paneer is derived from vegetable sources, predominantly palm oil in modern production. It looks like paneer, retains its shape when cooked, remains white, and most importantly, has an extended shelf life. Producers sometimes add small amounts of milk powder to impart a faint milky aroma. As a result, the product looks like paneer to the eye, feels like paneer in hand, behaves like paneer in a pan, but contains zero milk, creating a massive price disparity.
Price Gap Between Real and Analogue Paneer
Authentic paneer typically sells for around 350 to 450 rupees per kilo, whereas analogue variants are available at 150 to 250 rupees. This cheaper alternative sees widespread usage in hotels, restaurants, roadside eateries, catering services, and large gatherings. While it is neither adulterated nor toxic, it is fundamentally not paneer. Vendors rarely inform customers that they are serving analogue paneer instead of the real product. Since this practice was legally permissible provided the labeling was clear, the primary fallout has been widespread deception and consumer confusion. Consequently, several state governments began imposing bans on such items. At the same time, manufacturing companies raised questions regarding why licenses were issued in the first place if bans were the ultimate intended outcome. Under the new FSSAI proposal, manufacturers may continue making the product, but they will be barred from using the word paneer in its designation. Legal definitions distinguish clearly between counterfeit and analogue items, where adulteration involves hidden mixtures, harmful substances, or selling substandard goods under the guise of true paneer.
Regulatory Precedents in Other Dairy Analogues
Analogue products form a distinct category where non-milk ingredients replicate the physical form of dairy items. Various analogue products exist globally, including analogue cheese, analogue cream, and analogue ice cream. Similar items are sold domestically without being derived from milk, utilizing vegetable fats like palm oil instead. This regulatory ambiguity forces major brands like Amul to explicitly state on their packaging that their ice cream is made entirely from milk. This highlights the extent of consumer confusion caused by existing rules, requiring companies to advertise that their products genuinely contain milk because consumers assume all frozen desserts are dairy-based. While fine print may label an item as a frozen dessert, buyers are left to deduce on their own that the product contains palm oil rather than milk under current regulatory frameworks.
Distinction Between Butter and Paneer Regulations
Analogue butter exists in the market as well, but it is never called butter or makhan; instead, it is designated as margarine. Because it maintains a completely distinct name, consumers are rarely misled. No one purchases margarine under the mistaken belief that it is butter, which explains why margarine sees limited sales volumes in India. However, when a product bears the label analogue paneer, the inclusion of the word paneer inevitably leads buyers to be deceived. When restaurants incorporate this substitute into dishes, customers have no practical way of knowing otherwise. The question arises as to why margarine is not labeled as analogue butter. This distinction exists because margarine possesses a universally recognized separate identity, whereas paneer is primarily a regional food item consumed predominantly in India rather than globally. While analogue butter received a distinct name like margarine, analogue paneer was never assigned a separate standalone term, allowing it to circulate under the analogue paneer title and continuously mislead consumers. With FSSAI itself maintaining a formal category for analogue in dairy context, manufacturers, restaurants, and roadside stalls had little incentive to disclose the absence of milk. With small analogue labels hidden on packaging and restaurant menus simply listing paneer dishes, the public naturally assumed they were consuming authentic dairy products. Regulatory shifts are now being contemplated following enforcement raids and license cancellations across establishments in multiple states.
