Soon you can get to see the quality of cheese used in the hotel and restaurant on the food items made of cheese. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is considering issuing guidelines, under which hotels and restaurants have to clearly explain that they use analog paneer (cheese made of vegetable oil) in dishes served to customers and traditional cheese (made of milk). A top government official associated with the ministry has given this information.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has already made the manufacturers labeled “non-degree” on analog cheese to prevent fraud with consumers, but this rule does not apply to the prepared foods being served in hotels and restaurants currently. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare told the news agency PTI-language, ‘Analog is like a traditional cheese in cheese and taste, but it is not cheese. It is cheaper traditional cheese made of milk. But hotels and restaurants do not tell their consumers what cheese has been used in the dishes served to them.
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Hotels and restaurants use analog cheese
Nidhi Khare emphasized that establishments should clearly tell the customers whether their dishes have traditional cheese or analog cheese, and accordingly they should decide their price. He said, ‘He should not sell analog cheese in the name of traditional cheese.’ Most hotels and restaurant analog use cheese, as it costs about half compared to dairy cheese, while its taste and texture is the same.
Traditional cheese is made from the residue that is left after putting lemon juice or vinegar in fresh milk. While analog cheese is usually made of starch and vegetable oil. However, health concerns have been expressed regarding the use of vegetable oil and other chemicals of low quality in analog cheese. Paneer is a major source of protein and protein is the first choice of vegetarians to meet its daily needs. But this source of protein is on the radar of food security agencies due to excessive adulteration.
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Paneer turned out to be the most adulterated product
Investigation of samples of 702 products in Noida and Greater Noida showed that cheese is the most adulterated product. Samples of 83% of the products made of cheese did not live up to the quality standards. During the investigation, it was also found that milk ranks second in adulterated food products. Samples of 19 out of 43 products made of milk were found to be inferior or unsafe. At the same time, 38% samples of ghee failed to check quality, while butter was the only product in which adulteration level was low.