Maharashtra bans analogue paneer for one year, cites food safety norm violations

The Maharashtra Government has imposed a one-year ban on the manufacture and sale of “analogue” or non-dairy paneer in view of public health concerns and widespread violations of food safety norms, officials said on Wednesday.

Offenders could face life imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, as per a recent Government order.

Maharashtra is the second State after Chhattisgarh to impose such a ban.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it found that several hotels, restaurants, caterers and other food establishments were using analogue paneer in place of conventional paneer without disclosing the substitution on menus, invoices or display boards.

Analogue paneer is a non-dairy substitute made using vegetable oils, starches, emulsifiers and other additives instead of milk fat. It is cheaper to produce than conventional paneer and generally contains lower protein levels. A gazette notification issued by Maharashtra Food Safety Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has prohibited the manufacturing, processing, preparation, packing, storage, distribution, wholesale and retail sale, as well as offering for sale, of analogue paneer across the State.

An FDA official said that the Food Safety and Standards Act permits such prohibitory orders for a maximum period of one year.

“The law itself has a provision of banning such items for one year only. As per our information, analogue paneer has very low nutritional value. But there is no legal support for us to put a complete ban on such types of paneer,” the official said.

The FDA has warned that serving analogue paneer as conventional dairy paneer without informing consumers would amount to an unfair trade practice under the Food Safety and Standards Act and attract penal action.

Depending on the extent of harm caused, offenders could face imprisonment -- from six months with a fine of Rs 1 lakh to life imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 10 lakh in cases where consumption of unsafe food results in death, the FDA said.

The order followed a year-long enforcement and surveillance drive by the FDA, which found that routine inspections, sampling and awareness campaigns had failed to curb the sale of analogue paneer.

As many as 35.4 per cent of the samples analysed during the drive did not conform to prescribed standards, indicating that existing enforcement measures and labelling requirements had proved inadequate to protect consumers, it said.

Inspections showed that analogue paneer was often transported and sold without original packaging, mandatory labels, invoices, batch identification or traceability documents, making it difficult to establish its source, it said.

BJP MLA Vikram Pachpute, who had raised the issue in the state legislature and sought a ban on analogue paneer, welcomed the Government’s decision, calling it a pioneering step to safeguard consumer health.

He also urged the Government to scrutinise the sale of cheese analogues, alleging that consumers were being misled where such products were marketed or sold as conventional cheese.