Several units sealed in crackdown on substandard food items

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority has sealed several units during a large-scale crackdown on substandard and harmful pops, chips, nimco and seasoning powders in the province.

A special 15-day testing campaign was conducted, during which 462 samples of various food products were collected and analysed for quality standards.

Following laboratory results, the Food Safety teams took immediate action, sealing 13 production units in Peshawar Division, three in Mardan, seven in Malakand, and one each in Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu. Heavy fines were imposed on violators, and further legal proceedings were initiated under the Food Safety Act.

A spokesperson for the Food Authority said that the testing campaign involved a detailed analysis of ingredients in pops, chips, nimco, and spices. The results indicated excessive levels of aflatoxins, free fatty acids, peroxide value, and moisture in several samples, making them substandard and hazardous for human consumption. The spokesperson extended that 27 seasoning powder and spice samples were found to contain aflatoxins exceeding national and international safety standards. Aflatoxins, caused by fungal contamination, are known to be carcinogenic.

The spokesperson added that the test results revealed out of 175 pops samples, 82 were deemed substandard, while eight out of 24 nimco samples failed to meet food safety standards. Similarly, 29 out of 160 seasoning powder samples and 29 out of 103 curry powder samples were found to be of poor quality. Overall, 46.2percent of pops, 33.3pc of nimco, 18.1pc of seasoning powders, and 28.1pc of curry powders failed quality assurance tests.