Delhi High Court seeks the stand of FSSAI and the Delhi food safety department on dairy analogues sold as paneer

14 October 2026

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma of the Delhi High Court issued notice on a public interest litigation against dairy analogues being sold as paneer.
The case is Ridhima Singh & Anr v. Union of India & Ors, heard on Wednesday, 14 October 2026.
The Court sought responses from the Union Government, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the Delhi Government and the Delhi Department of Food Safety.
The petition says paneer is a standardised dairy product under the food safety framework, while dairy analogues may contain ingredients wholly or partly from non-milk sources, and that consumers ordering paneer dishes in hotels, restaurants, catering units, eateries and cloud kitchens have no practical way to tell which they are getting.
The challenge is to analogues sold, supplied or served as paneer without adequate disclosure, not to lawfully made analogues in general. Counsel cited the FSSAI Regulations of 2011 on food production standards and food additives.
The petition cites measures on analogue or non-dairy paneer in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, including a Punjab order prohibiting analogue paneer for a set period.
It also refers to an enforcement action by the Delhi Food Safety Department at Okhla Sabzi Mandi in August 2026, in which about 508 kg of suspected spurious paneer was destroyed.
The petition seeks compliance with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and coordinated surveillance, inspection, sampling and testing.