MUMBAI: Amid the ongoing regulatory scrutiny on food safety, Zomato has banned the sale of analogue dairy dishes on its platform, directing restaurants to move to natural dairy products or risk getting delisted.
In a statement on Monday, the company said that dishes that restaurant partners have declared as containing analogue dairy have been delisted from the platform.
Analogue dishes replace real milk and cheese with cheaper substitutes such as vegetable oil.
In recent months, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) department in states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka have launched a severe crackdown on eateries, canteens and online platforms over food safety and hygiene violations, sale of toxic items, sealing warehouses and suspending licenses of companies.
Big brands such as Domino’s have come under fire.
“This policy builds on Zomato’s broader focus on healthier food choices and greater transparency for customers, consistent with applicable regulatory requirements,” the company said.
The industry is, however, divided in their opinion. AD Singh, owner at Olive Bar and Kitchen said that as long as restaurants clearly mention that they are using analogue dishes, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, there are concerns around the implementation of the move on the ground, particularly by smaller restaurant chains which will have to take a hit on costs.
Ravindra Yadav, partner at The Knowledge Company said, “Zomato's zero-tolerance policy on analogue dairy is a welcome step, but the real test lies in implementation. Larger, organised players will comply quickly by pulling analogue-based dishes off their listings to protect their brand image. But for smaller, standalone restaurants the underlying economics haven’t changed."
Thin margins clubbed with aggregator commission, and switching to pure dairy products adds further to cost pressure. For them, the likely response will be to increase the price of products and pass on the cost to the customers or will quietly continue to use analogue dairy while simply not declaring it as such,” he added.
Restaurant partners that remain “non-compliant” will be removed from the food delivery platform, Zomato said.
It directed restaurants to remove items containing analogue dairy products from the menu, in case an immediate transition is not feasible.
They will also have to review product labels and ingredient declarations provided by suppliers to verify the ingredients being used and ensure accurate representation of the products listed on Zomato.
Sagar Daryani, president at National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) did not respond to queries.
