PFA inspected 479,838 food outlets

LAHORE: Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has disposed of assortment of adulterated and unwholesome food valued at Rs311.577 million during the current year.

Officials said food authority inspected 479,838 food businesses and shut down 6,495 sites for failing to meet the standards of Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018. PFA also served 277,800 improvement notices on minor issues.

This was revealed in the annual performance report of PFA Operations and its Vigilance Wing here on Sunday. According to details, the enforcement teams of the PFA conducted 152,063 raids in Lahore, 207,088 in Rawalpindi and 71,495 outlets in Multan.

In south Punjab (Muzaffargarh Zone), PFA visited 49,192 food sites during 2018. Muhammad Usman said that PFA stopped the production of 1,334 food businesses by serving Emergency Prohibition Orders (EPOs) across Punjab so far. In 2018, as many as 126,805 E-food licences were issued to food business operators with the help of PFA. The purpose of the inspection was to ensure the provision of quality and standard food in Punjab, the DG said.

Moreover, PFA disposed of more than four million rotten eggs, over 60,000 substandard meat, 176,000 litres tainted milk and a huge quantity of unwholesome food.

On the other hand, the provincial food body had held operation against toxic vegetables that cultivated with industrial waste and sewerage water. While enforcement teams had discarded thousands of kilograms unhealthy vegetable crops on 10,000-kanal land in Punjab.

Muhammad Usman said that PFA is doing work on new regulations for bringing food business operators on the right track and to meet the international food standards. He added that food authority is utilising all available resource in order to improve hygiene issues and situation in Punjab.