Mohali: In a suspected case of illegal analogue paneer being transported for supply in the Tricity, the health department intercepted a vehicle and seized around 40kg of a product resembling paneer that was being packed in a suspicious manner in Zirakpur.The action followed information received from police and local residents about the vehicle. The health department team found the product packed in different quantities, including 5kg and 1kg packets.Samples were collected and sent to a laboratory for testing, said the health department duty officer. The consignment was reportedly coming from Derabassi and headed towards Chandigarh.Officials said the product was suspected to be analogue paneer, the sale of which is not permitted under applicable food regulations. However, the department has refrained from declaring it analogue paneer until the laboratory confirms its composition.Officials said the laboratory report was likely to take around 14 days. Action will be initiated under food safety laws if the product is found to be analogue paneer or fails to meet prescribed standards.The department is also expected to establish where the product was manufactured, who was supplying it and where the consignment was to be distributed.For now, officials maintained that the seizure was based on suspicion and that the laboratory report would determine the exact nature of the product.BOX | What is analogue paneer?Analogue paneer is a paneer-like product in which milk fat or milk proteins are partly or wholly replaced with non-milk ingredients, such as vegetable fat or other permitted food ingredients. It may resemble regular paneer in appearance and texture but does not have the same composition as genuine paneer.Not the same as conventional paneer: Paneer is traditionally made by coagulating milk and separating the whey.Why the concern? A product made with non-milk ingredients cannot simply be sold or labelled as paneer if it does not meet the prescribed food standards.Lab test crucial: Appearance alone cannot establish whether a seized product is analogue paneer. Its composition and ingredients have to be verified through testing.
