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The company said such items will no longer be allowed (Img: Pexels)
New Delhi: Food delivery platform Zomato has announced a strict policy against dishes made with analogue dairy products, including analogue paneer, on its platform. The company said such items will no longer be allowed unless restaurants clearly follow food labelling rules.
With immediate effect, dishes that restaurant partners have declared as containing analogue dairy have been removed from Zomato’s listings.
Under the new guidelines, Zomato has instructed restaurant partners to replace analogue dairy products with natural dairy ingredients. Restaurants that cannot immediately make the switch have been asked to remove such dishes from their menus until they comply with the updated policy.
The company has also directed restaurants to verify ingredient labels and supplier declarations to ensure that the products listed on the platform accurately reflect what customers receive.
Zomato said restaurants failing to follow the new rules could face delisting from the platform. Aditya Mangla, CEO of Zomato, said the move is aimed at maintaining food quality standards and ensuring transparency for customers.
The company stated that its focus remains on providing safer and better food choices while working with restaurant partners to improve compliance.
Analogue paneer is a non-dairy substitute where some or all milk components are replaced with non-milk ingredients. Unlike traditional paneer made from milk, analogue paneer can contain ingredients such as vegetable oils, starches, plant proteins, emulsifiers and other additives.
The issue of analogue dairy products has gained attention in recent months. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) clarified that such products can be sold only if they are accurately labelled.
According to FSSAI rules, selling an analogue product as “paneer” or using it in dishes marketed as paneer can violate food safety regulations.
Maharashtra had also announced restrictions on the manufacture and sale of artificial or analogue paneer after concerns over quality standards. During an enforcement drive, authorities examined hundreds of samples, with several failing to meet required safety and quality benchmarks.
