Karnataka bans analog paneer for a year: what Tumakuru buyers should check

Karnataka has put a one-year lid on analog — or non-dairy — paneer. The Food Safety and Drug Administration Department notified the order on 17 August. It runs statewide, including every taluk of Tumakuru.

Ordinary paneer is set from milk. Analog paneer swaps milk fat for vegetable oil or fat, starch, emulsifiers and other fillers, then sells under the same name. Food-safety rules already say that product is not paneer. The new order is a hard stop: you may not make it, process it, pack it, store it, move it, sell it wholesale or retail, cook with it in a kitchen that serves the public, or put it on a counter as paneer.

Milk paneer made by the book is not banned. Frozen dessert, processed cheese and mixed-fat spread — products that sit under their own standards — are also outside this order, the department said.

Officials said recent paneer samples in the state did not show vegetable-oil adulteration. The ban is still being run as a precaution for consumers. Hotels, sweet shops and traders have been told to keep invoices that show a dairy source.

In Tumakuru city, the civic food-safety beat will check hotel kitchens and the dairy counters around the old market this week. Buyers should read the label: look for milk as the first ingredient, a maker’s name, and an FSSAI number. If the packet says paneer but lists vegetable oil, leave it on the shelf and ask the shop for the dairy lot.