Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Goa Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has given hotels, restaurants, sweet shops, caterers and other food establishments four days to comply with new disclosure requirements governing the sale and use of milk analogue products.
FDA Director Shweta Desai announced the deadline at a stakeholders’ meeting held on Tuesday, where traders, distributors, caterers and restaurant operators were briefed on the regulations.
The move follows complaints and investigations indicating that milk analogue products were being used in food items and sold to consumers as genuine dairy products.
Officials said instances had been detected where cheese analogue was used instead of paneer in restaurant preparations. Similar concerns were raised over traditional sweets, including peda, milk cake, barfi, rabdi and basundi, allegedly being prepared with analogue substitutes in place of khoya, mawa or other genuine dairy ingredients.
According to the FDA, consumers must be clearly informed when an item is prepared using a milk analogue. Establishments have therefore been directed to prominently indicate whether products contain genuine milk ingredients or milk substitutes.
The disclosure must appear on menu cards, display trays and sales counters. Businesses using milk analogue ingredients must also put up a visible sign informing customers that the products are prepared primarily with milk analogue.
The FDA has further prohibited establishments from selling analogue-based products using the names of conventional dairy sweets. Items made with milk substitutes cannot be marketed as peda, barfi, milk cake, rabdi, basundi or other traditional milk-based delicacies.
The requirement will also extend to billing records. Invoices, bills and cash memos must clearly identify whether the item sold is a dairy product or a milk analogue product.
The regulations also require establishments to maintain proper cold storage for dairy products. Food businesses have been asked to train chefs and other food handlers to distinguish between genuine dairy ingredients and analogue products and to check supplier documentation before purchasing raw materials.
Officials said milk analogues are generally prepared using hydrogenated vegetable fat in place of natural milk fat and are often transported without refrigeration. They also pointed to differences in nutritional value between such substitutes and genuine dairy products.
The FDA particularly highlighted paneer, which is widely consumed by vegetarians as a source of protein.
Desai warned traders, hoteliers and other food business operators that enforcement action would follow against establishments that fail to meet the requirements after the four-day compliance period.
