The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has imposed a statewide one-year prohibition on the manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of analogue/non-dairy paneer, holding that the product poses a risk to public health and is routinely passed off as genuine paneer, thereby misleading consumers. The order, issued by Food Safety Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, IAS, takes immediate effect under Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The order records that laboratory analysis conducted between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026 revealed alarming levels of non-compliance. Of 308 paneer and dairy analogue samples analysed across Maharashtra, 109 samples (35.4%) failed to meet prescribed standards, including 79 sub-standard and 30 unsafe samples. Laboratory reports further indicated the presence of vegetable or foreign fat in place of milk fat, rendering the products unsafe and misbranded under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
What is Analogue Paneer?
The notification states that analogue paneer refers to products resembling paneer in which milk fat or milk solids are wholly or partly replaced by vegetable oil, vegetable fat or other non-milk constituents. According to the Commissioner, such products are non-standardised, nutritionally inferior and difficult to distinguish from genuine paneer, making them particularly susceptible to adulteration and consumer deception.
The Commissioner also relied upon the recommendations of the Central Advisory Committee under the Food Safety and Standards Act, which had observed in its 48th meeting that no quality standards exist for analogue paneer, making effective enforcement difficult. The Committee had further noted that analogue paneer offers no comparable nutritional benefit, particularly to vegetarians who depend upon paneer as a source of protein, and recommended that such non-standardised dairy analogues should not be permitted.
Explaining the legal distinction, the notification reiterates that paneer is a standardised dairy product under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations and must necessarily contain milk fat. Products in which milk fat is replaced by vegetable fat or other non-milk ingredients cannot legally be marketed, sold or served as “paneer” and must carry clear declarations identifying them as dairy analogues.
The order also takes note of widespread misuse of analogue paneer by hotels, restaurants, caterers and other food service establishments, observing that such products are often served in place of genuine paneer without any disclosure on menus, invoices or display boards, thereby depriving consumers of an informed choice. It further records that loose analogue paneer is frequently transported and sold without traceability documents or proper labelling, frustrating effective enforcement.
Prohibition of Analogue Paneer
Accordingly, the Commissioner has prohibited, for one year, the manufacture, processing, preparation, packing, storage, transportation, wholesale and retail sale, offering for sale or distribution of analogue/non-dairy paneer throughout Maharashtra.
The notification further directs that no hotel, restaurant, caterer, cloud kitchen or other food service establishment shall use, prepare, stock, serve or sell analogue paneer in any dish, holding that doing so would amount to misleading consumers and constitute an unfair trade practice under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The order also mandates strict compliance with labelling requirements for genuine paneer and chhana, warning that violations would invite action for misbranding. Any breach of the prohibition order would attract penalties under the Food Safety and Standards Act, including seizure and destruction of the offending products. The prohibition will remain in force for one year unless modified, rescinded or extended in accordance with law