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New Delhi. The government is preparing to impose a complete ban on synthetic cheese sold in the market. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided that fake paneer, which has low nutrition and is harmful to health, will be completely removed from the market. Two officials associated with the case gave this information.

A high level committee formed in this matter had finalized this proposal in October 2025, which has been officially approved in the meeting in March 2026. The committee said that India is the largest dairy producing country in the world, but despite this, cheap synthetic cheese is being sold in large quantities in the market. It looks and tastes very similar to real cheese, making it difficult for the common consumer to identify and get confused.

1,000 companies have licenses to make synthetic cheese

For this reason, a plan is being made to remove it from the market in a phased manner. At present there is no complete ban on the sale of synthetic cheese. There are about 1,000 such companies or businessmen in the country who have the license to make it. Under the new policy, new licenses will no longer be issued and existing companies will be given enough time to liquidate their stock and stop production.

hence the need arose

For some time now, the trend of ‘synthetic cheese’ has increased rapidly in the market. It is a cheaper alternative, made primarily from palm oil, milk powder, starch and emulsifiers instead of fresh milk. It resembles real cheese in appearance and texture, but its quality and nutritional value are much lower than cheese made from milk. This synthetic cheese is used in many restaurants because it is cheap, causing confusion to consumers.

Constantly growing market: Especially in North India, cheese is considered a major source of protein. This is the reason why India’s cheese market has reached $10.8 billion. According to market research company IMARC, the Indian cheese market is expected to reach $22.1 billion by 2033, with an annual growth rate of 8.7%.

Huge difference in price: According to officials, the price of genuine branded cheese ranges from Rs 450 per kg, while synthetic or unbranded cheese sold in the open sells for Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kg.

Danger to health also increased

According to health experts, the amount of protein in synthetic cheese is very low and fat is very high. Its regular consumption can have serious effects on health. This can cause insulin resistance in the body, which can cause type-2 diabetes.