Standing outside a closed gate that looks like the entrance to a foundry, the man who identifies himself as Imran asks what we want.
A ballpark estimate of how much paneer the Gondola belt sends out daily, according to various officials and distributors, these correspondents spoke to, is around 10,000-12,000 kg. Haryana food safety commissioner Manoj Kumar has issued a one-year statewide prohibition under Section 30(2)(a) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, covering analogue or non-dairy paneer, and barring its preparation using milk powder or vegetable oil. The state’s latest testing data underlines the scale of the problem: of 285 paneer samples tested between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, 200 failed to meet standards. On Aug 31, Zomato announced a zero-tolerance policy on analogue dishes across its platform. A commercial buyer paying Rs 340 for a kilogram of full-cream paneer could instead procure the cheapest variety (soya paste and vegetable oils, perhaps with a chuna whitener) for Rs 120-150. For a catering order of 1,000kg, this is a savings of Rs 2 lakh. Regular consumption of products high in saturated fat, he added, could contribute to weight gain, obesity and increased LDL cholesterol, with longer-term risks including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, particularly when eaten frequently. When you’re selling something for Rs 600, you don’t want to save that Rs 50.
Consistently consuming such foods may therefore result in poorer overall nutrition. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Delhi | Silver Rate in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi | Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Petrol Price in Delhi | Diesel Price in Delhi | CNG Price in Delhi | LPG Price in Delhi Stay updated with the latest Delhi news.
“Paneer,” we say. “Any quantity,” he replies. “Food safety teams are active in the area,” says Imran. “During recent raids on paneer manufacturing units in Punahana, food safety officials found buckets of slaked lime (chuna), which were being used to artificially whiten synthetic paneer,” said a food department source. It said restaurant partners have been asked to transition to natural dairy products, remove analogue-dairy items where an immediate switch isn’t feasible, and review supplier product labels and ingredient declarations to ensure accurate menu representation. Out of these, three units have already been closed, closure orders have been received against five units, four units are presently under show cause notice, and closure recommendation against one sent to head office,” Nuh deputy commissioner Akhil Pilani said. Vehicles, he said, leave early morning carrying “freshly prepared synthetic paneer” to Delhi, Gurgaon and surrounding areas. Sources told TOI synthetic paneer is delivered to distributors at Khandsa Mandi, Subzi Mandi on Gurdwara Road, and Anaj Mandi in Gurgaon and at Janakpuri, Uttam Nagar, and in the east in Delhi, mostly for banquet halls, cloud kitchens and local dairy shops. Chef Sunnyy Vyas, also known as Brown Chef India, said texture and taste can offer clues, though they’re no substitute for lab testing. “After spending years in kitchens, you develop an instinct with ingredients,” he said. Paediatric endocrinologist Dr Ganesh Jevalikar said the concern goes beyond analogue paneer simply being different from the conventional dairy product. “Paneer is commonly consumed as an important source of protein, particularly by vegetarians, but analogue paneer can be deficient in protein because its preparation is fundamentally different and may rely on vegetable fats, palm oil, starches and emulsifiers,” he said. Surabhi Sharma, clinical nutritionist and dietetics at Max Hospital, Gurgaon, said: “The health impact depends on the formulation, serving size and frequency of consumption. Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of National Restaurant Association of India, said good restaurants don’t serve analogue paneer because “that’s against the grain of the business”. Analogue paneer was also discussed, and according to law, you have to state it is analogue.
“Do you take large orders? “We supply to many places in Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Within a day, we can supply as much paneer as required to Chandigarh. Imran wasn’t exaggerating. There would be few lives in Delhi-NCR and the vast agglomeration of towns and villages around it that the foundry-like units operating in a cluster here – Gondola village in Nuh’s Punahana block – would not have touched. Their chief produce – synthetic paneer (also analogue or non-dairy) is cheap, lasts a long time, and needs no dairy. Daily, synthetic paneer is delivered in bulk to distributors, mandis, and catering kitchens associated with banquet halls. On the plate, it comes packed into tikkas and stuffed in patties, kulchas, rolls and parathas, and in curries that are lapped up in massive quantities. Synthetic paneer (also analogue or non-dairy) is everywhere. Gondola is among its chief contributors. Last month, Haryana govt banned all forms of non-dairy paneer after finding their presence in a large number of samples tested at labs. But the units that bulk-produce paneer doppelgangers continue to churn out massive batches as orders flow in. The only difference? Gates are shut, and there’s a watch posted outside, just in case a nosy visitor drops by. At another unit in Punahana city, workers turned abusive when we inquired about paneer production. Gondola specialises in all forms of synthetic paneer, like skimmed milk with palm oil and vegetable fats and soya paste treated mixed milk solids. Over the years, demand for cheap paneer has seen manufacturing units proliferate beyond a single cluster to Katpuri, Punahana city, Bara Bazidpur in Pinangwan, Raniyala and Bodi Kothi in Ferozepur Jhirka and Sheikhpur in Nagina, among other places. They produce quickly, and evidently, do whatever it takes to make their product look the best. Officials have been instructed to seize stocks and initiate criminal prosecution under the FSS Act. Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, too, have banned synthetic paneer for a year. Sale and production of analogue paneer is not illegal in India as long as it is correctly labelled, but concerns about poor standards and the impact on health have led to a rethink. In many samples, the Butyrorefractometer (which measures purity) readings and iodine values were significantly beyond limits, showing replacement of natural milk fat with non-milk vegetable fats. Food delivery aggregator platforms are acting too. “Thirteen paneer dairies have been proceeded against by the Nuh regional office. Who Are The Buyers? A supplier described an organised distribution network connecting Nuh’s manufacturing units with Delhi-NCR’s catering and food businesses. The economics make the case for synthetic paneer. Hapur, Palwal and Bhiwadi are other centres that produce synthetic paneer for supply to Delhi-NCR. Good, fresh paneer should break softly and crumble rather than stretch like cheese or rubber, he explained — it typically has a soft, slightly grainy, milky feel and a fresh, milky flavour, whereas analogue products can feel unusually smooth, tight or rubbery, and taste more elastic or processed. But he cautioned this isn’t foolproof. “Some products are made very well and can be difficult to identify without checking the ingredients or doing a proper test. His message for restaurants using analogue products was simple — transparency. “If they’re using analogue paneer, it should be mentioned clearly on the menu, preferably with the ingredients or what it is made from in brackets. Is There A Health Impact? “The bigger issue is that a low-cost substitute should not be mistaken for a nutritionally equivalent food. Some analogue products can be higher in saturated fat, refined starch, calories and sodium, and lower in protein and calcium than regular dairy paneer. There is no scientific proof that properly controlled analogue paneer causes hormonal imbalance, so there is no need for unnecessary panic. “We had a talk organized by FSSAI a few days ago to teach restaurant owners how to maintain standards. When you’re a decent restaurant, you are charging a particular price. Download the TOI App.