Vikas Khanna slams YouTuber for misinformation after fake paneer claim at Gauri Khan's Torii - ‘Scary that…'

A wave of frenzy swept several social media users after a popular YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva posted an Instagram video, claiming that Gauri Khan's Mumbai restaurant Torii served 'fake' paneer. Recently, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna and MasterChef India judge slammed the YouTuber, stating that it was “scary that unqualified people are taken seriously.”

Vikas Khanna took to his Instagram, to refute the fake paneer claims, stating: “ 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.”

Gauri Khan's Torii had already dismissed the claims.

What did the YouTuber claim?

YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva visited Shah Rukh Khan's wife Gauri Khan's Mumbai restaurant Torii to test their paneer. Claiming that the paneer served was ‘fake’ after performing a purity test with Iodine, Sarthak Sachdeva posted a video and wrote, “fake paneer?”

Although the video has now been removed, the incident gained a lot of traction on social media.

Vikas Khanna explains change in colour

As per Sachdeva, the paneer served in Gauri Khan's restaurant turned black in colour after he put a few drops of iodine tincture on it, leading him to claim that the paneer was fake.

Vikas Khanna, however, bashed these claims, stating that Iodine also changes colour in the presence of several other ingredients including cornstarch, banana, and typed out a full list.

He elaborated that the use of the ingredients could also happen in cross contamination, thereby leading to the black colour in the Iodine test.

What Torii said about fake paneer

Earlier, Torii had given a similar explanation as Vikas Khanna, and refuted the YouTuber's ‘fake paneer’ claims.

Torii's official Instagram commented: “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.”