The tragic death of two children due to alleged food poisoning has allowed residents of Karachi to ask an important question: Where is the Sindh Food Authority (SFA)? The Sindh Food Authority Act was passed by the Sindh Assembly in March 2017. Its initial allocated budget was Rs0.8 billion and apparently it was meant to have a total of 350 employees. Out of these 350 employees, 45 safety food inspectors and six deputy directors haven’t been appointed to date. In March 2018, it was formally made operational.
It has been seven months and the performance of the authority so far has been unsatisfactory. It does not even have its own laboratory and food samples are sent to private labs for examination. Although the authority has legal power to punish a food outlet over substandard, adulterated or tainted food, it has not fined or registered any case so far. The SFA must take proper steps to check the quality of food items cooked in different food outlets so that precious lives can be saved.
Mazhar Ali Charan
Karachi
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