Delhi High Court seeks replies on paneer substitute petition

The Delhi High Court has sought responses from food-safety and government authorities to a public interest petition alleging that nondairy substitutes are being sold or served as paneer without adequate disclosure. The authorities have six weeks to reply, and the court did not order an interim enforcement drive at this stage. The petition was filed by Ridhima Singh and Avlokiteshwar Padmapani Sidharth. It names the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Central government, the Delhi government and the Commissioner of Food Safety among the authorities asked to respond. The petitioners argue that customers ordering paneer dishes, particularly in restaurants and other food-service settings, may not know whether the food was made with dairy paneer or an analogue containing nonmilk ingredients. They say diners often cannot inspect the packaging, labels or ingredient information for products used by a business. The petition seeks inspections, sampling and testing of paneer and products represented as paneer, as well as disclosure requirements for food businesses.