The Delhi High Court sought responses from authorities over non-dairy products allegedly sold as paneer. The plea demands market testing and mandatory disclosure of analogue ingredients by food businesses.
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Newdelhi,Oct 14, 2026 13:56 IST
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the Centre and the Delhi government on a public interest litigation raising concerns over non-dairy products allegedly being sold as paneer to unsuspecting consumers.
The petition sought testing of paneer and products sold as paneer during the festive season. It also called for clear disclosure by food businesses when analogue or non-dairy substitutes are used in dishes.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin W Sambre and Justice Sanjay Singh issued notices to the authorities on the petition filed by Ridhima Singh and Avlokiteshwar Padmapani Sidharth. It asked them to file their replies within six weeks.
The petitioners said paneer is a standardised dairy product under food safety rules, while an analogue or non-dairy product contains non-milk ingredients and does not have the same nutritional value.
They argued that a person ordering a paneer-based dish at a hotel or restaurant has no way of knowing whether it has been prepared with paneer or a dairy analogue. Seeking urgent directions, they asked the authorities to collect samples and test paneer and products represented as paneer in the market.
“They are doing it, they have placed the statistics before us to that effect,” the bench said.
The plea said Gujarat, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra had already taken action against non-dairy paneer. It sought directions to prevent the manufacture, supply, sale or serving of dairy analogue paneer in Delhi.
It also sought directions requiring hotels, restaurants, caterers, eateries, cloud kitchens and e-commerce food businesses to clearly disclose the use of analogue or non-dairy substitutes in their food.
“A consumer who knowingly purchases a product correctly disclosed as an analogue or non-dairy substitute makes an informed choice. However, a consumer who purchases or orders ‘paneer’ is entitled to receive a product which answers the statutory description of paneer and ought not to be unknowingly supplied a product in which essential milk constituents have been substituted by vegetable fat, vegetable oil or other non-milk constituents,” the petition said.
The court has given the FSSAI, the Centre and the Delhi government six weeks to respond to the plea seeking action against non-dairy products sold as paneer and mandatory disclosure of their use by food businesses.
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