‘Reforms in Food Dept to ensure transparency’

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Food Zahir Shah Toru on Friday said that the ongoing reforms in the Food Department would ensure transparency.

Addressing a press conference here, the minister highlighted efforts towards restructuring and digitisation of the department, noting that most of its operations had already been digitised, with the remaining processes expected to follow soon.

Senior officials from the Food Department were also present during the briefing.Zahir Shah Toru revealed that when he assumed office, the Food Department’s warehouses housed 141,000 metric tons of wheat, including 77,762 metric tons imported from Ukraine in 2021.

This stock was procured by the previous caretaker government from Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation in 2023.To examine the quality of this wheat, 30 samples were sent to PCSIR and Qarshi Laboratories. However, the results from the two laboratories were contradictory, raising concerns over the usability of the stock.

Zahir Shah added that in light of these discrepancies, the provincial cabinet constituted a committee comprising microbiologist, agricultural expert, food scientist, and food safety specialist to further examine the wheat’s quality. The committee has forwarded the samples to the National Laboratory of Microbiology in Faisalabad, and results are expected next week. The findings will guide the decision on whether the wheat is fit for human consumption or not.

The minister assured that the issue of wheat quality would be resolved comprehensively without any pressure.He criticized the previous governments for supplying substandard wheat to the public and asserted that, for the first time in the province’s history, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was providing high-quality wheat and flour to citizens.

He further stated that, according to international standards and the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), wheat containing aflatoxins (fungal toxins) up to 20 parts per billion (PPB) is deemed safe for human consumption.