Are you eating ‘zeher’, or poison, dressed up quite appetisingly at fast food outlets and restaurants? Turns out you might well be. In fact, buying from even reputable brands may not spare you from the ‘poison’, as per an influencer’s “social experiment” in Delhi.
Why The Concern Over Paneer?
An influencer’s video is being widely shared on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, as well as WhatsApp groups, to highlight how fake paneer is allegedly being passed off as the real deal. YouTuber, known as Apple Tiwari, on Wednesday, March 26, posted a video which showed her walking into top food brand outlets and ordering paneer items.
She then washes off the spices and fried crust from the ‘paneer’ and subjects it to the ‘iodine test’.
What Is The Iodine Test Paneer?
As per popular YouTuber Revant Himatsingka, better known as ‘Food Pharmer’, the iodine test can tell you if your paneer is real or fake (analogue). Analogue paneer is not a dairy product and is made from palm oil. It is often used by street food vendors as a cheaper alternative to milk paneer as it is nearly half the price of the dairy paneer.
However, the fake paneer may be cheap but could prove expensive for your health.
The iodine test involves putting a few drops of the solution on the paneer and checking its colour. If it turns dark blue or black, it is likely a fake product and you should stay away from it. The real paneer would not react with iodine and the colour remains the same.
Watch the video below to check out influencer Ayush Sapra’s ‘iodine test’ on paneer from big brands.
‘Paneer Test’ At Branded Outlets
Tiwari first walks into a fast-food chain outlet and orders a ‘veg parcel’ with paneer. She washes off the cheese and spices and breaks the paneer piece to expose the centre of the paneer and applies a few drops of iodine. The ‘paneer’ immediately turns black.
The video was shot on March 9, as per her bill.
To show the difference between real and fake paneer, she proceeds to take out a block of ‘Amul Paneer’ from her bag and subject it to the same test. This paneer passes the iodine test as it does not change colour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aM-fBUJrXk
She then throws her order into a trash bin.
Next, she walks into another outlet of a fast-food chain in Shahdara and orders a paneer burger. She separates the paneer and repeats the process to clean it and subject it to the iodine test. This time, too, it failed the test.
However, here, an employee of the outlet notices them conducting the test and quickly takes away the food. He also says recording videos and photos is not allowed in the outlet.
Tiwari’s third test was conducted at yet another outlet where she repeated the test and got the same result — ‘black paneer’.
She ends the video with a warning that consuming such fake paneer could have serious consequences on one’s health.
Is Iodine Test The Benchmark To Check Paneer’s Purity?
In ideal conditions, the iodine test can establish the authenticity of the paneer under controlled environment. ABP Live couldn’t independently verify the “tests” conducted by Tiwari, and the parameters were obviously not in a controlled environment as there were several factors affecting the paneer.
However, it is to be noted that paneer is likely to react to the iodine test differently as per its cooking procedure. In case paneer is mixed with starch, even a ‘pure paneer’ would throw up a different result.
McDonald’s Responds
McDonald’s, which was one of the brands that Tiwari claimed to have “exposed”, hit back. The company was quoted as saying by The Indian Express: “We strongly refute any false claims regarding the quality of our paneer. The paneer used in our products is 100% dairy-based and made of real milk, sourced from FSSAI-licensed, globally recognized, and approved suppliers who adhere to the highest food quality and safety standards and serve us real food at all times. Standard testing methods are designed for raw ingredients and not finished products. In the case of our Paneer Patty, any starch present comes from the coating process and is solely on the surface of the patty. We request you not to be misled by this misinformation. For more details, please visit the link in the bio, where we have done the same iodine test on our raw paneer.”
Check out the McDonald’s “test” video below:
Domino’s Refutes Claim
Domino’s, another brand that, Tiwari alleged, was serving “fake paneer”, too, refuted the claim. “Jubilant FoodWorks [parent company of Domino’s] vehemently denies the allegations made in the source video related to the usage of paneer (cottage cheese) in Domino’s Zingy Parcel, which is also being circulated on social media. The company would like to clarify that the paneer used in all our food offerings is 100% dairy-based,” the statement read.
The rebuttal further read: “The Company would also like to clarify that when an iodine test is performed on paneer that has already come in contact with starch/dough, the allied chemical reaction turns the exposed surface area into a blue/black colour. The iodine test is a widely accepted qualitative method to detect the presence of starch, but it is not a valid scientific test to determine the quality of paneer. The comments made by the video creator are misleading, and the Company is exploring legal options against the video creator.”
Want to conduct your own ‘paneer authenticity test’? Check out the video below by Food Pharmer who details three tests to determine if your paneer is real or fake:
Analogue paneer (paneer made with palm oil) is spreading across India, and here are 3 simple tests to find out if your paneer is real or not!
1) 𝐃𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭: boil paneer, add toor dal, and wait for 10 minutes. If the water turns red, urea may be present in your paneer.
2)… pic.twitter.com/ul1eLbeBen
— Revant Himatsingka “Food Pharmer” (@foodpharmer2) February 18, 2025
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