FSSAI moves to ban ‘analogue paneer’

New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed restricting the use of the term ‘paneer’ for products made from ingredients not derived from milk. The move is aimed at preventing consumers from confusing dairy products with dairy analogues—products made from non-milk ingredients to imitate the taste, texture or other characteristics of dairy products.

Conventional paneer is a milk product produced by coagulating milk and separating the curd from whey. In contrast, dairy analogues may use non-milk ingredients such as vegetable fats, oils or proteins to replicate characteristics of a dairy product. The proposal is part of the draft Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Amendment Regulations, 2026, notified on 22 September.

The draft seeks to amend the 2011 regulations to specifically include “paneer made of constituents not derived from milk” among products whose sale would be restricted.

The proposal comes amid growing scrutiny of analogue paneer, which has become increasingly common in markets and sparked concerns that consumers may mistake it for conventional paneer when sold, labelled or marketed under the same name. In its notification, FSSAI said the amendment is intended to address the way such products are represented to consumers.

“The amendment is proposed in the following regulation to restrict manufacturing and sale of analogue products as paneer so as to prevent misleading of consumers regarding the nature and composition of the product,” the notification states.

It added that products already licensed or registered under the ‘Analogue in Dairy Context’ category shall discontinue the use of the term ‘Paneer’ in their nomenclature, labelling or marketing.

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