Delhi HC seeks response from Centre, FSSAI on plea seeking ban on sale of analogue products as paneer

The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued notice on a petition seeking to restrain the manufacture and sale of analogue products allegedly being passed off as paneer in the national capital.

A bench of acting chief justice Nitin Sambre and justice Sanjay Sharma sought the Centre, FSSAI and Delhi government’s response in a petition filed by one law student, Ridhima Singh, and advocate AP Siddharth in six weeks.

Analogue paneer is a product made to look, feel and function like paneer, but in which some or all milk constituents are replaced with ingredients not derived from milk.

Last month, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) proposed restrictions on the manufacture and sale of paneer made with non-milk constituents. The draft amendment, published on September 24, seeks to add “paneer made of constituents not derived from milk” to the list of substances whose sale is prohibited.

Products already licensed or registered as “Analogue in Dairy Context” would have to drop the word “paneer” from their name, labelling and marketing.

Meanwhile, in their plea before the high court, the two petitioners asserted that Food Safety Authorities in different states, such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, have already taken preventive and enforcement measures in relation to analogue/non dairy paneer under the FSSAI Act and thus, such an action also needs to be taken in Delhi.

“That Delhi cannot be treated as being removed from the above regulatory concern. The NCT of Delhi is one of the largest markets for milk products, paneer and paneer-based food preparations and has an enormous network of restaurants, hotels, caterers, cloud kitchens, wholesalers, retailers and food-delivery establishments,” the petition said.

Singh’s petition also sought an order by the Commissioner of Food Safety to prohibit such manufacture. It said that paneer is one of the most widely consumed sources of protein across vast sections, and that the right of consumers to receive a food article that genuinely conforms to the nature, substance, and quality demanded has a nexus with the fundamental right to health enshrined under Article 21.

Delhi government standing counsel Sameer Vashisth submitted that the government was taking action against the sale of analogue paneer and acted as soon as such instances came to its notice.