In recent years, the Indian food industry has witnessed a concerning rise in food adulteration cases. This has eroded public confidence and sparked serious concerns about food safety regulations. Nonetheless, a few social media influencers have taken advantage of these instances to attract online attention. Trying to be new-age watchdogs, they are now finding “fake paneer” in the market by performing iodine tests everywhere.
One such instance that made headlines lately included Gauri Khan’s restaurant, Torii. It happened after an influencer claimed that they had been giving their consumers “fake paneer.” After this, Torii has been heavily criticized on social media. Now, renowned chef Vikas Khanna expressed his support for Torii and provided his insights on this ongoing iodine trend.
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Vikas Khanna rubbishes reports of serving fake paneer at Gauri Khan’s restaurant
Shah Rukh Khan and his family always had a close and affectionate relationship with chef Vikas Khanna. That’s why, today, when Gauri Khan’s restaurant has been facing allegations of serving fake paneer, Vikas Khanna comes in support of the restaurant.
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In an Instagram story, the chef criticized the influencer for disseminating false information. He described the scenario as frightening since people are making claims based on incomplete information. Vikas Khanna wrote,
I’ve been cooking and working with the science of food for the past several decades. I’ve never seen such terrible misinformation like YouTuber who claims to be a food scientist.
Vikas Khanna refuted the influencer’s assertion by describing how iodine reacts to change color when substances like potatoes, rice, bread, cornstarch, flour, and unripe bananas are present. He wrote:
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IODINE changes color with reaction under presence of ingredients: Potatoes, Rice, Bread, Cornstarch, Flour, Unripe bananas. The use of these ingredients (thus reaction) could also happen in cross-contamination. It’s scary that unqualified people are taken seriously.
Take a look at the screenshot of the story:
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When an influencer called out Gauri Khan’s restaurant Torri for serving fake paneer
In a recent video, well-known influencer Sarthak Sachdeva evaluated the quality of paneer offered at several celebrity-owned eateries in Mumbai. The video featured Bobby Deol’s Someplace Else, Shilpa Shetty’s Bastian, and Virat Kohli’s One8 Commune in addition to Gauri Khan’s Torii. He used the iodine test to assess the quality of paneer at each restaurant and discovered that none of the samples turned black, indicating that there was no additional starch present.
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However, he shocked his two million fans when the paneer at Torii turned black, a sign that starch was present. In response, Sarthak stated:
Shah Rukh Khan ke restaurant mein paneer nakli tha. Ye dekh ke mere toh hosh udd gaye the.
After the controversy, Sarthak has removed his video on YouTube. Despite this, the video is going rounds on social media.
A viral video by YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva alleges that fake paneer was served at Torii, a luxury Mumbai restaurant owned by Gauri Khan#ShahRukhKhan #GauriKhan pic.twitter.com/2xVXnOD0Fz
— Satyam Patel | … (@SatyamInsights1) April 18, 2025
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Gauri Khan’s restaurant Torii also refuted the reports
As soon as Torii realized that the situation was getting out of control, they quickly denied the allegations, claiming that the iodine test only indicates the amount of starch and not the paneer’s authenticity. Their official statement stated:
The iodine test reflects the presence of starch, not the authenticity of the paneer. As the dish contains soy-based ingredients, this reaction is expected. We stand by the purity of our paneer and the integrity of our ingredients at Torii.
Is the iodine test actually reliable to test paneer’s authenticity?
Experts claim that an iodine test is only one of many potential markers of artificial paneer. The paneer may have come into contact with other components, which could have changed its color. Thus, the process is not flawless. For example, adding iodine to a small sample of paneer could turn it blue-black if starch has been added to it, which is usually used to increase bulk or simulate texture.
However, it does not verify if the paneer is synthetic or “fake.” It just looks for extra starch. Many types of “synthetic” paneer can have ingredients such as detergent or soap residue, non-food oils, urea or calcium sulfate, plasticizers, or other industrial waste instead of starch.
Therefore, it is best to perform additional tests to confirm whether or not it is a fake. It is also necessary to do certain tests on either raw or boiled paneer prior to further cooking.
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What do you think about this test? Do share your thoughts with us in the comment sections of this article.