The North News
Chandigarh, July 3
A major public health concern is emerging in northern India, with authorities seizing record quantities of adulterated paneer in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh, raising alarm over widespread food contamination.
In the latest crackdown, the Union Territory Health Department in Chandigarh confiscated 450 kilograms of fake paneer from the city’s Bapu Dham area. Laboratory tests confirmed that the so-called dairy product contained no milk whatsoever — but was instead a toxic blend of palm oil, starch, detergent, and synthetic chemicals.
“What we found wasn’t food — it was poison disguised as paneer. This is the biggest-ever seizure of counterfeit dairy in Chandigarh,” Dr Suman Singh, Director of Health Services, told the media. The adulterated paneer had reportedly been transported from Kaithal in Haryana and was being stored for city-wide distribution when officials, acting on a tip-off, intervened. According to FSSAI-authorised food analysts, the product posed a serious health hazard and was unfit for human consumption.
Elsewhere, recently in Punjab’s Patiala, the Food Safety Team seized 1,300 kilograms of counterfeit paneer following a police alert. In Kaithal, Haryana, officials raided a facility operated by Singla Traders and destroyed over 2 tonnes of substandard cheese found on the premises. The coordinated operations have brought into sharp focus the alarming scale of dairy adulteration in a region where paneer is a staple. In Punjab alone, per capita monthly paneer consumption stands at 117 grams, while neighbouring states such as Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir also report high intake.
Across India, paneer is a central part of vegetarian diets, often served at weddings, religious functions, and daily meals. But this surge in adulteration has raised grave concerns about food safety.
“There is no excuse,” said a senior health official. “This isn’t just unethical — it’s criminal. People are so blinded by profit that they are knowingly endangering lives. This must stop.”
