Punjab Food Authority fines five hotels

LAHORE:The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Sunday launched a campaign to inspect three, four and five star hotels across Punjab.

The campaign was launched on the directions of PFA Director General Irfan Memon. PFA enforcement teams inspected 32 hotels, sealed one hotel kitchen and imposed fines on five hotels besides serving improvement notices to 25 hotels. Apart from that, five food business operators were penalised with hefty fines over violations.

According to data, food safety teams visited three hotels each in Faisalabad and Sialkot, 11 in Lahore and five each in Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and South Punjab. DG Irfan Memon said that Royalson Hotel’s kitchen was sealed over use of loose adulterated spices in preparation of food and over expired beverages.

He said that fines were imposed on five hotels due to using rotten vegetables, fungus-infested food items and poor arrangements of cleanliness. Warning notices were also served on violation of hygiene standards to 25 hotels. He added that PFA watchdog teams discarded a huge quantity of food, including expired beverages, bread and hazardous food items. Moreover, he said that positive change was seen after establishing training schools and daily inspections. Action is being taken on violations without any discrimination, he added.