LAHORE: Punjab Food Authority (PFA) sealed 31 food businesses including fast foods, restaurants, milk points, sweet shops and production units during raids on thousands of food outlets across the province on Wednesday.
According to PFA, the authority is taking steps to complete Healthy Punjab Mission and committed to ensure implementation of food safety laws in Punjab. In this connection, the authority held operations and penalised 104 food business operators with a cumulative fine Rs 624,300 including Rs 81,500 fine in Lahore. The authority served notices on more than 1,000 food businesses for improvement.
PFA food safety teams sealed two food premises in different areas of Lahore during a crackdown. Best Food Unit was sealed due to use of loose colours, adulteration in sauce and wrong labelling in Faizabad area. Another production unit of a juice factory was sealed over improper cleanliness arrangements, usage of rusted tanks, smoking, unavailability of labelling on products and other various issues in Sundar Industrial Estate. Moreover, the authority sealed 29 food points in other cities of Punjab including three food premises in Multan, 11 in DG Khan, two in Faisalabad, one in Sargodha and six each in Rawalpindi and Gujranwala divisions. The teams issued fine tickets of Rs267,300 on 40 FBOs in Rawalpindi, Rs114,500 fine on 16 outlets in Multan, Rs13,000 fine in Sargodha, Rs4,500 fine in Bahawalpur, Rs38,000 fine in Faisalabad, Rs47,000 fine in DG Khan and Rs58,500 fine on10 food businesses in Gujranwala division. PFA sealed outlets for not following previous instructions, adulteration, poor hygiene and selling substandard edibles. A number of substandard products were discarded during the operations.
PFA discarded thousands of packs of banned Gutka item, 65 filled drums of pickles, 717-litre chemical contaminated milk, 40-kg adulterated pepper, 11 chemical drums, 12,000 packs of pepper, 300-litre poor quality ice-cream, 180-kg turmeric and hundreds of kilograms of other products including sweets, rancid oil and drinks. Meanwhile, PFA will collect spices products’ samples for quality test on May 15. PFA has directed companies to submit names of their representatives at PFA office before May 10.
A PFA spokesperson said PFA will collect samples for laboratory test from open market in the presence of company’s representatives by following blind-sampling method throughout the province. PFA has informed all beverages production companies about sampling date through a notice. All samples will be sent to ISOs and Pakistan Certified Councils certified laboratories.
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