Food regulator withdraws order to label curd products as ‘dahi’ amid Tamil Nadu’s ‘Nahi to Dahi’ line

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, March 30

The apex food regulator on Thursday retracted a directive whereby it had asked state milk cooperative societies to label curd products under the description “dahi”. The regulator has now allowed for the use of the word “Curd along with the prevalent regional common name for curd.”

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s retraction came after the “dahi for curd” labelling order was caught in a language war with the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu and opposition JD (S) in Karnataka alleging “Hindi imposition.”

Top DMK leaders today tweeted with the hashtag “DahiNahiPoda” (No to Dahi, go on).

The anti-Dahi Twitter storm began soon after Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin attacked the Centre for attempting to “impose Hindi” and TN Dairy Development Minister SM Nasar said there was no place for Hindi in the state.

Aavin, Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, meanwhile said it would continue to label and market curd as “Thayir,” the regional name for curd in TN.

In Karnataka, JDS launched an anti-Dahi offensive with party leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy asking if the FSSAI directive was Centre’s attempt to “hijack the state cooperative Nandini.”

As the “Nahi to Dahi” campaign picked up down South, BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai urged the FSSAI to withdraw the notification saying it was at variance with the Centre’s policy of promoting regional languages.

In its retraction order issued today, FSSAI said, “As many representations were received recently on omission of the term curd from the Standards of Fermented Milk Products, it has been decided that food business organizations may use the term curd along with any other designation (prevalent regional common name) in brackets on the label.”

Accordingly the FSSAI allowed the use of the following terms on labels for curd – Dahi, Mosaru, Zaamut daud, Thayir and Perugu.