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Journalism of Courage
Apple Tiwari, a creator with over 6.5 lakh followers, shared a video of her attempt to uncover if the paneer used at fast food chains like Domino’s, McDonald’s and Burger King are fake. The Instagram reel captioned “Must Watch! Recently, I visited TOP 3 fast food outlets to check their paneer quality. What I found was shocking!” has blown up online, racking up views and stirring a hornet’s nest of reactions.
Armed with a bottle of iodine tincture, Tiwari walks into the three outlets, one after the other, and orders paneer dishes—Domino’s Paneer Makhani Pizza, McDonald’s McSpicy Paneer Burger, and Burger King’s Paneer King Melt. Each time, she washes paneer blocks from the dish using water, dries them using tissues, breaks them into smaller pieces, and drizzles iodine on them. When they turn blue-black, she sounds the alarm: “Fake paneer!” she declares, warning that “Fake paneer = Serious health issues” and urging her followers to “say NO to nakli (fake) paneer.”
Fake paneer is a mix of starch, vegetable fats, or synthetic milk solids, and resembles the real, creamy, milk-based deal. It is cheaper to churn out, but it doesn’t have the nutritious benefits of real paneer and, in worst-case scenarios, can pack harmful additives.
Tiwari’s test–the iodine tincture test–is a legit trick that turns paneer blue-black in the presence of starch—a telltale sign of adulteration when checking raw paneer. However, Tiwari was testing fried, coated fast food patties, not the raw paneer straight from the kitchen.
As the video started gaining traction, it caught McDonald’s attention. They clapped back with a detailed comment: “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.” Sure enough, their linked video shows raw paneer staying a safe, starchy-free brown under iodine.
Here is the video:
Domino’s also refuted the claim, releasing an official statement. “Jubilant FoodWorks vehemently denies the allegations made in the source video related to 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 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,” it added.
Instagram users were not having it either. One user wrote, “Mam, will you do a court case? The way u are testing is wrong—this is a marinated cheese—when it is fried and marinated, the cheese soaks the oil and marination, that’s why the color came black. If you have guts, ask them to provide a cheese sample and then u can do a test. Don’t fool people by showing fake test.”
Another user commented, “Uneducated influencer. This test have to be done on clean paneer with no oil in it. That paneer is oil-fried, that’s why that chemical reacts with the starch in the oil… Every real paneer will fail this test if it was deep fried in oil.”
A third user said, “This is half knowledge who just wanted to make content…there are so many videos on YouTube how to check properly. This is not the way to check… sadly but content creators need to study more.”
“You’re testing fried paneer with batter—obviously it’s got starch!” a fourth user wrote, while another commented, “Standard tests don’t work on cooked food. This is misleading.”
The X crowd has been buzzing too, with posts echoing the skepticism. “Fried paneer turning black with iodine? That’s the coating, not the cheese,” one user tweeted on March 26. Another user wrote, “Influencers need a science class before a camera.”
Many users on Instagram, however, seemed to believe Tiwari, lauding her for the effort and vowing not to consume paneer-based burgers at the outlets.
