FSSAI cracks down on sale of analogue dairy items without proper labelling

The national food regulator— Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)— has come out with a public consultation paper seeking comments on effective regulatory compliance as part of its crack down on sale of so-called analogue dairy products, including paneer (cottage cheese), without proper labelling, according to people familiar with the matter.

Analogue dairy products are those in which constituents are not derived from milk and dairy proteins are replaced with plant bases. Analogue paneer is the most common analogue dairy product sold in market that uses vegetable oil, starch, and emulsifiers etc instead .

This isn’t illegal -- as long as the analogue paneer is marked as such .

Taking note of the rampant sale of analogue dairy products that are passed off as dairy products, FSSAI has pushed for clear disclosure and labelling.

“Several media reports have been surfaced wherein it is claimed that products like ‘Analogue in dairy context’ are being sold as ‘Dairy products’, thus misleading consumers. It is to inform that Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has already laid down regulation for distinct labelling of ‘Analogue in dairy context’ to ensure their clear bifurcation with dairy products,” read the FSSAI document.

As part of sub-regulations under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, analogues in the dairy context are not considered milk, milk products, or composite milk products: . “… no label, commercial document, publicity material or any form of point of sale presentation shall be used which claims, implies or suggests that the product is milk, a milk product or a composite milk product, or which refers to one or more of these products.”

For manufactures, the regulations clearly said that “pre-packaged food shall not be described or presented on any label or in any labelling in a manner that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character in any respect.” In addition, hotels, restaurants, and caterers who sell cooked food have also been asked to “display a notice board containing the nature of articles being exposed for sale.”

HT reported on Tuesday that the consumer affairs ministry will soon issue guidelines for eateries that they will have to specify in their menus whether their dishes contain traditional dairy-based paneer or so-called analogue or non-dairy paneer.

To discuss labelling compliance measures, FSSAI conducted a meeting of all stakeholders on April 7.

“Based on the deliberation held, it was proposed to publish a consultation paper on the said matter on FSSAI website seeking comments/suggestions from the stakeholders at large,” it added.

The food regulator has sought comments on nomenclature ; labelling; declaration; the prohibition in sale of analogue products in loose form; and restriction in FSSAI registration for food businesses manufacturing analogue dairy products.

FSSAI has specifically asked whether it makes sense to use “non-dairy” or “analogue” as a prefix in cases where milk constituents are substituted partially or wholly; whether the use of dairy analogue needs to be explicitly mentioned in the ingredient list; whether to allow sale of these analogue products ion packs smaller than 500 gm; and whether to restrict grant of FSSAI registration for violators.

On Wednesday, FSSAI also announced that consumers can now directly report misleading claims made on food product labels through its app or website.

“FSSAI has introduced a new digital utility… Consumers can now lodge complaints regarding misleading or false claims displayed on packaged food items through the Food Safety Connect mobile application or via Food Safety Compliance System [FoSCoS – https://foscos.fssai.gov.in ]. This initiative is part of FSSAI’s ongoing efforts to promote transparency, protect consumer rights and strengthen food safety regulations in the country,” the regulator said in a statement.