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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Huge quantity of expired chocolate seized

By Ali Raza
January 17, 2020

LAHORE:International/big companies seem privileged when it comes to taking action against outlets involved in adulteration and selling expired food items as Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Thursday confiscated a huge cache of expired chocolate but ignored the original seller, which is a big Korean company.

PFA officials said that the expired chocolate was recovered from two fully loaded trucks and a warehouse in the vicinity of Sheikhupura Road.

They claimed that an undercover operation was conducted to arrest the counterfeiters under the supervision of PFA Director General Irfan Memon by placing barricades for more than 14 hours at different points. They added that the authority has registered a case against the supplier named Waseem Aslam and handed him over to the police.

DG PFA in a press release claimed that Waseem was trying to supply fully loaded trucks with expired chocolates to Faisalabad after purchasing it from the production unit of Kolson, but PFA foiled the attempt after arresting him. He said expired chocolates had to be supplied in the market of Faisalabad and its surrounding areas after repacking and removing fungus by using chemicals.

Irfan Memon said PFA also raided a warehouse near Sial Flour Mill on Faisalabad Road on the information of supplier where the main stock of expired chocolate was kept. He said PFA had seized 80,000-kg expired chocolates in the undercover operation.

He added bylaw storing or selling of expired goods is a serious offence and PFA would not allow anyone to violate it. The counterfeiters are the foes of the nation's future and deserve no concession at any cost, the DG said.

Sources said as per PFA rules and regulations, manufacturers or big companies are bound to discard expired chocolates or related material at dumpsites.

When contacted, the PFA DG said no one is allowed to sell expired materials, adding foreign/international companies took shield of their embassies so PFA can’t take a direct action against them without a solid proof.

PFA has initiated an internal in-depth investigation into the issue and we will take strict action if we found any relevant evidence that the Korean company sold the expired chocolate, he said.