Troubled by controversies around the use of fake paneer, the country’s apex food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has met stakeholders and sought suggestions on clearer nomenclature and labelling norms. Although guidelines are explicit about ingredients food establishments use, the regulator and restaurants are now working on stricter listing of paneer as a pure dairy product or synthetic, made with milk substitutes.
While existing labelling norms mandate that restaurants provide details of the foods they are selling, the authority asked stakeholders to mention, for example, that the paneer being used in kadhai paneer or the cheese being used in the burger is “non-dairy” or “analogue.”
What is an analogue dairy product?
A non-dairy or analogue milk product is one where the milk constituents, such as milk fats and milk protein, are substituted with non-milk constituents like vegetable oil, fats and proteins.
The products for which the composition is altered, however, are not considered to be an analogue. Take for example, milk products which have a different fat content, are fortified with vitamins and minerals and are lactose-free. The designation of non-dairy or analogue is also not meant for composite milk products — products that have certain permitted non-dairy components added but do not replace any of the constituents of milk such as milk fats and solids. Take for example, ice-cream with fruits, flavoured milks or shrikhand with fruits.
What should you check in packaged foods?
The current regulation says that packaged foods have to say “contains:….” and list out the non-milk constituents present in a food. When it comes to products where a constituent of milk is completely replaced by something else, the packaging must mention “Contains no milk…..” and mention the components that have been used instead.
After discussions with food business operators, the FSSAI has asked people whether such products should clearly use terms such as “non-dairy” and “analogue” and then go on to describe the constituents. For example the packaging of a non-dairy cheese may say: “Analogue of Cheese (Milk Solids, Refined Palm Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable fat, Modified Starch, Emulsifier).
What are the other changes that FSSAI has proposed?
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Since these analogues are being used without informing people, the FSSAI has also proposed whether there should be a prohibition on the sale of these items in the loose form. The apex regulator has proposed the sale of not less than 500 gm of these analogue products with proper labelling declarations.
Another suggestion is to register all manufacturers of dairy analogues. Usually, smaller food manufacturers with an annual turnover of less than 12 lakh or a capacity of less than 100 kg/ litres per day do not have to register with the food regulator. However, again with the probability of these products being used without informing people, the FSSAI has said that this category of food manufacturers may be considered for licensing with the state as well as the Central authority.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
