PFA seals 16 school canteens

LAHORE: On the directions of Punjab Food Authority (PFA) Director General Muhammad Usman, food safety teams on Tuesday carried out a special drive to check the implementation of the ban on carbonated drinks in educational institutions.

The PFA enforcement sealed 16 canteens of public and private schools. The PFA served warning notices on 346 food business operators for improvement and penalised 17 business operators the daylong operation. PFA sealed four canteens in Rawalpindi and six canteens each in Lahore and Multan regions. PFA sealed a canteen of a private school and fine four canteens of DPS over non-compliance with the authority’s instructions. The PFA DG said that PFA had sealed the canteens and imposed fine due to poor hygiene issue and for selling carbonated drinks. The PFA DG paid visits to Divisional Public School and a private school to inspect the food quality at their canteens. According to Educational Institutions Food Standards Regulation, food has been divided into three categories; red, yellow and green; for sale in schools. The school canteens could sell items falling in the green and yellow categories. The sale of red category food items is strictly prohibited in educational institutions. PFA will make no compromise on the health of students.