The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is planning to bring new rules that would make it compulsory for hotels and restaurants to clearly tell customers if they are using "analogue paneer" (synthetic paneer) in their dishes, a senior government official said on Monday.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has already made it mandatory for manufacturers to label analogue paneer as "non-dairy" to avoid confusing consumers. However, these rules do not currently apply to food served in hotels and restaurants. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare explained that analogue paneer looks and tastes like real paneer but is not paneer. Since analogue paneer is cheaper, she said it is important for hotels and restaurants to inform customers about it.

Ms. Khare further said that hotels and restaurants must clearly tell customers if a dish is made with real paneer or analogue paneer, and they should price the dishes accordingly. "They should not sell analogue paneer by calling it traditional paneer," she said.

Analogue paneer is becoming popular in commercial kitchens because it is almost half the cost of regular dairy paneer while still tasting and looking very similar. According to FSSAI rules, analogue paneer is a product where milk ingredients are either completely or partly replaced with non-dairy items, but the final product still looks and tastes like real paneer.

How analogue paneer is made?

If we talk about the traditional paneer, it is made by curdling fresh milk using acids like lemon juice or vinegar, a process that results in a fresh, dairy-based product. On the other hand, analogue paneer is typically made using a mix of emulsifiers, starch, and vegetable oils, which are used to replicate the texture and taste of traditional paneer.

However, there have been growing health concerns about the quality of some analogue paneer products. Some manufacturers may use low-quality vegetable oils and other questionable additives, which could pose risks to consumers. This has raised alarms regarding the nutritional value and safety of analogue paneer compared to the natural, dairy-based alternative.

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