BENGALURU : The Karnataka government has imposed a one-year prohibition on the manufacture, sale and distribution of non-dairy or analogue paneer being marketed under the name “paneer”, citing public health and consumer protection concerns.
The order, issued by the State Food Safety and Drug Administration, will remain in force until August 17, 2027 and covers the entire State.
Wide-ranging ban across the supply chain
The prohibition covers a broad range of activities, including:
- manufacturing and processing;
- packing and storage;
- distribution and transportation;
- wholesale and retail sale;
- display for sale; and
- supply of non-dairy or analogue paneer marketed as “paneer”.
The order has been issued under Sections 30(2)(a), 18 and 29 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
What Karnataka considers analogue paneer
Under the applicable food standards, paneer is a standardised milk-based food product prepared from milk.
Milk fat and milk solids are therefore central to its identity. According to the State authorities, replacing milk components wholly or partially with vegetable oil, vegetable fat or other non-dairy ingredients creates a paneer-like analogue rather than conventional standardised paneer.
The latest order specifically targets such products when they are marketed simply as “paneer”, potentially creating confusion about their composition and identity.
Karnataka says tests found no adulteration
Interestingly, the State’s action does not appear to have been triggered by widespread detection of adulterated conventional paneer.
The Food Safety and Drug Administration said it had tested several paneer samples and did not find adulteration involving vegetable oil, vegetable fat or other dairy ingredients.
Nevertheless, the government decided to impose the prohibition as a preventive public-health measure, while seeking to ensure that consumers receive standardised milk-based paneer when a product is sold under that name.
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Not a ban on all non-dairy alternatives
An important distinction has been made in the notification.
The prohibition applies to dairy analogue products for which specific quality standards have not been prescribed or standardised by FSSAI.
It does not cover separately standardised food products such as:
- Frozen Dessert
- Processed Cheese
- Mixed Fat Spread
These products are governed by their own prescribed regulatory standards and are therefore outside the scope of the prohibition.
Growing regulatory scrutiny of analogue paneer
Karnataka’s decision comes amid increasing regulatory attention across India to the use and marketing of analogue dairy products, particularly products resembling paneer but containing non-milk fats or other substitutes.
The regulatory focus is increasingly centred on two issues: what the product actually contains and what consumers are told they are buying.
For dairy manufacturers, restaurants, caterers and food-service operators, the development reinforces the importance of correct product identity, ingredient declaration, procurement controls and traceability.
The Karnataka order therefore sends a strong message to the market: a non-dairy analogue cannot simply adopt the identity of standardised milk-based paneer when no applicable standard permits that representation.
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