Factory owner booked for producing fake drinks

LAHORE: Punjab Food Authority (PFA) continued its crackdown and caught a factory producing spurious beverages (Sharbat) with a name of famous brands here on Thursday.

PFA Director General Noor ul Amin Mengal said that the authority had registered a case against the factory owner in the respective area while the culprit managed to escape from the scene on reaching the team.

He said the PFA’s vigilance cell conducted a raid and took into custody 900 refilled bottles having names of two famous brands on them. As many as 2,800 empty bottles and a huge quantity of packing material were also seized.

The team also removed the machinery which was being used in the preparation of spurious beverages. The drinks were being prepared for Eid and they had to supply to the local shops in the market.

The Punjab Food Authority DG said that adulterators mostly mobilised during Ramazan but PFA would not let them do the illegal activity. He appealed to citizens to purchase good quality products from reliable stores.

Similarly, the PFA sealed another 26 food businesses, including ice factories, sweets shops, water filtration plant and food point. Punjab Food Authority teams sealed the food points for using rusted machinery, bad conditions of production area, absence of RO plant, poor quality products and multiple food hygiene issues across Punjab.

The teams sealed three each food premises in Multan and Faisalabad, four in DG Khan, five in Sargodha, two in Rawalpindi and nine in Gujranwala division. Punjab Food Authority imposed fine of Rs799,000 on 79 food businesses, including Rs99,000 on six shopkeepers in Multan, Rs267,000 on 25 businesses in Rawalpindi, Rs70,000 fine on nine food points in Faisalabad, Rs97,000 fine in Sargodha and Rs169,000 fine on 23 outlets in DG Khan. Twelve people were fined in Gujranwala.

The Punjab Food Authority discarded thousands of kilograms of low quality food and issued warning notices to dozen of food points. Meanwhile, PFA Director General Noor ul Amin Mengal and board members of the authority paid rich tribute to PFA Chairman Amir Hayat Hiraj for his services during a farewell party at the PFA Headquarters.

The farwell party was attended by the Punjab Food Authority additional director generals and the board members. Addressing the participants, Hiraj admired the vision of PFA DG Noor ul Amin Mengal and his commitment to work. He said that PFA spread its wings into the entire province in a short span of time, for which, credit went to Mengal.

He said that Mengal played a vital role in building and organising the authority. He hoped that Punjab Food Authority would continue its progress and struggle with the same pace. Hiraj tendered his resignation to Punjab Chief Minister Mia Shahbaz Sharif. His tenure as a PFA chairman would end with the end of government tenure.