Misleading food labelling undermines informed consumer choice. Examine how FSSAI's regulatory tools address this, with reference to recent draft norms on 'Paneer'.

A label is the consumer's only window into what a food actually contains; when it misleads, the right to informed choice collapses. FSSAI, acting under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, meets this through a graded toolkit — nomenclature standards, licensing, advisories and outright prohibition — best illustrated by its September 2026 draft norms on 'Paneer' [1].

FSSAI's regulatory tools at work

• Nomenclature and prohibition: the draft FSS (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Amendment Regulations, 2026 inserts a clause under Regulation 2.1.1 covering "paneer made of constituents not derived from milk", so that a product's name reflects its true nature and composition [1].
• Licensing and registration: firms licensed under the "Analogue in Dairy Context" category must drop 'Paneer' from nomenclature, labelling and marketing — the licence category gives enforcement a traceable handle [1].
• Advisories before regulation: FSSAI (West Region) had already declared, on 22 April 2026, that selling cheese analogue as 'paneer' is a grave violation, ordering 100% inspection of units manufacturing and using analogues [3]. The shift to a written clause shows advisory persuasion was proving insufficient.
• Consultation as legitimacy: a 60-day objection window, with previous approval of the Central Government, embeds transparency in delegated legislation [1].

Where the tools fall short

• They bind the packet, but analogue paneer usually reaches diners cooked in a gravy, unseen by the buyer — hence the separate menu-disclosure direction to food service establishments [3].
• Codex's General Standard for the Use of Dairy Terms (CXS 206-1999) goes further, covering publicity material and point-of-sale presentation, and barring dairy terms outright for substitute products [2].
• Removing a word without notifying a standard alternative name imposes relabelling costs while leaving shelves unreadable [1].

The draft marks a welcome move from exhortation to codified prohibition. Extending the clause to point-of-sale presentation and prescribing one compulsory name for analogues would convert a naming ban into genuine consumer empowerment, strengthening both food safety and the right to informed choice.