NEW DELHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India () has proposed a ban on the use of the term 'paneer' for analogue or non-dairy , amid concerns that consumers could be misled about the nature and composition of the products they are buying.




Under a draft regulation, manufacturers and sellers of analogue products would not be allowed to use 'paneer' in their product names, labelling or marketing.




Analogue products are made with or milk solids along with vegetable oil, vegetable fat or other non-dairy ingredients.




They may look and taste like paneer but are not the same as traditional dairy paneer made from milk and do not have the nutritional value of paneer either.








Products already licensed or registered under the 'analogue in dairy context' category will have to stop using 'paneer' in their product name, labelling or marketing, according to the draft regulation notified in the Gazette of India.




The move would effectively reserve the term paneer for products meeting the dairy definition, preventing businesses selling non-dairy analogues from presenting or marketing them as paneer.








The move comes after several states banned the sale of analogue paneer. Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are among the states that have imposed restrictions on analogue or non-dairy paneer.




The prohibitions cover activities including the manufacture, processing, preparation, packing, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of such products.




The state-level action comes amid concerns over products that resemble but are made partly or entirely with non-dairy ingredients. FSSAI has invited objections and suggestions and will consider the draft after 60 days from the date the gazette notification is made available to the public.