No check on adulterators, profiteers

Rawalpindi
Profiteers are playing with the lives of public by mixing dangerous items in milk, tea, ghee, ice-cream, cold drinks, bakery items, red chillies, flour, gram flour and several other food items in city markets. On the other hand, the powerful ‘butcher mafia’ as per routine is selling unhygienic meat and playing with the lives of people.
The City District Government, Rawalpindi, is doing only paperwork rather than addressing the serious issue through practical measures.
Punjab Minister for Food Bilal Yasin said that on the instructions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, a special campaign is on throughout the province for ensuring safe food in accordance with hygiene principles. He said that in order to ensure safe food, the Punjab government passed the Anti-Adulteration Law on Tuesday.
He said that all DCOs have been directed to conduct raids against those involved in preparing and selling adulterated and substandard food items.
According to a survey conducted by ‘The News,’ profiteers extensively mix washing powder, flour, CMC-powder, chemicals and other things to thicken milk, which is extremely hazardous to health. Similarly, the drums often used for milk storage have serious health implications. There is no proper way to check the hygiene level of milk. Milkmen are playing with the lives of public. Most of the milk comes from Sargodha in dirty drums for distribution at shops. Shopkeepers sell it at higher prices of Rs100 to Rs110 per litre.
Similarly, profiteers in Dal Garan Bazaar, Namak Mandi and Ganjmandi are mixing dangerous items in red chillies and tea. This practice has been continuing for years but the authorities are keeping mum over the issue. In Pirwadhai, Naseerabad, Dhoke Ratta and Misrial Road, Chakra, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Bagh Sardaran and Girja Road, there are factories of unhygienic ice-cream, cold drinks and ghee where manufacturers use dangerous items. Most bakery items are not fit for consumption. The owners of flourmills are using more than 11 per cent water during grinding to increase the weight of flour, which causes stomach problems.
Similarly, the powerful ‘butcher mafia’ as per routine is selling unhygienic meat at high prices at Banni, Pirwadhai, Ganjmandi, Ratta, Pindora, Satellite Town, Sadiqabad, Muslim Town, Dhoke Kala Khan and Raja Bazaar.
Rawalpindi District Food Inspector Rana Murtaza, in a statement to ‘The News, had admitted that profiteers take advantage of the existing weak law against the practice. Currently, violators are fined a meagre amount, he said.
He admitted that there is high degree of adulteration and the food department seized 10 trucks carrying adulterated milk worth Rs10 million. However, he expressed dismay over the laboratory system, saying that there is no satisfactory system to test the quality of milk -- the available tests can only show how much water is mixed in milk.
The food inspector said that profiteers extensively mix washing powder, flour, CMC-powder, chemicals and other liquids to thicken milk, which is extremely hazardous to health.
Sihala Slaughterhouse General Manager Dr. Farrukh and Ratta Slaughterhouse Superintendent Dr. Kashif also admitted that the meat of sick and dead animals is openly being sold in Rawalpindi. This kind of meat is coming from central Punjab, they claimed.
District Coordination Officer (DCO) Personal Secretary Shahid Shah told ‘The News’ that they have launched a crackdown on adulterators and profiteers. But he failed to tell the number of FIRs filed against adulterators during the operation.
‘The News’ tried to contact Additional District Collector (ADC) Muhammad Arif Raheem for his comments but he did not attend his phone.
Plan Pakistan Country Director Haider W Yaqub, in a statement, said that at present Pure Food Rules of 1965, Cantonment Pure Food Rules of 1967 (for military areas), and parts of the Pakistan Penal Code of 1860 are applicable to the dairy industry along with other food items. The Punjab government has introduced the Pure Food Laws 2007 and Food Safety Standards Act 2011, he added.