10 food spots sealed

LAHORE: Punjab Food Authority (PFA) sealed 10 food spots including one in Rawalpindi, three in South Zone and two each in Sargodha, Faisalabad and Gujranwala division on Wednesday.

The authority sealed all food businesses on account of adulteration, substandard production and unhygienic conditions. The provincial food regulatory body under its Director General Irfan Memon carried out a grand operation against unhygienic food points in the Rawalpindi, sealed one and issued warning notices to 13 eateries for violating regulations.

The operation continued for 10 hours while food safety teams inspected 17 food production units. DG Irfan Memon along with team raided Butt Karahi and sealed it over the presence of expired food items, poor storage system, abundance of insects, worst condition of hygiene and for using loose spices in the preparation of food dishes.

PFA also slapped fine on Bom Bom Hot Spicy, Khabar Darbar Restaurant and Hot & Chilli over non-compliance of instructions. Meanwhile, the authority issued warning notices for improvement to 13 food business operators including Habibi Restaurant and Savour Foods.

PFA watchdog teams sealed Ajwa Super Store in Layyah and Al-Rehman Bakers in Raheem Yar Khan due to using expired ingredients, doing business without medicals, poor storage system, an abundance of insects and the worst condition of hygiene. A team of PFA also raided Zakhi Paan Shop and sealed it for selling gutka and failing to meet hygienic working environment in South Punjab.

In Gujranwala, the teams shut down Rana Ghafoor Cold Store for preserving food at foot level and poor storage system. A team of PFA also closed down Narowal Public School’s canteen in Narowal due to selling carbonated drinks, stinky environment and non-compliance of instructions. Apart from that, workers of the canteen did not have medical certificates. Moreover, PFA penalised six FBOs with Rs 99,000 fine, discarded a huge quantity of unwholesome food besides serving warning notices to 119 shopkeepers.

PFA Faisalabad team sealed Shahid & Muraba Co Factory due to using rotten fruits and chemicals in the preparation of preserved fruits (Muraba). The raiding team also witnessed worst condition of hygiene and the presence of washroom in the production area. A team also shut down Tariq Egg Traders for selling hatchery eggs, failing to produce a record and non-compliance of instructions.

Moreover, a team of PFA raided Jiggar Paan Shop in Sargodha and sealed it for selling gutka and expired food items, failing to meet hygienic working environment and poor storage system. Similarly, PFA’s dairy safety team has closed down Gull Yar Ahmed Khoya Unit on account of adulteration and for failing to produce medical certificates. PFA’s enforcement teams have discarded a huge quantity of unwholesome food including adulterated milk and Khoya, gutka, chemicals and non-food graded colours. PFA also served notices for improvement to 120 food joints in Sargodha division.

Meanwhile, PFA clarified that the authority did not share any news concerning the use of mutton could lead to coronavirus among people. In this regard, PFA Director General Irfan Memon said that the no relation confirmed yet between goat meat and deadly coronavirus. He said that post on social media about not eating goat meat was absolutely fake.

BoR proposal: The Punjab Standing Committee on Legislative Business (PSCLB) has approved the proposal made by the Board of Revenue to facilitate the issuance of online stamp papers through other banks besides the Bank of Punjab.

It was approved in the 20th meeting of the PSCLB chaired by Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat at Civil Secretariat on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended, among others, by Minister for Higher Education Raja Yasir Humayun.

The matter of the appointment of the proposed members of Punjab Environmental Tribunal was postponed for further consideration. The standing committee also recommended the chief minister to constitute a special committee for the establishment of a new department, Tourism, Sports and Culture in Punjab. The proposal for establishment of a basic health unit at village Uthwal in Chakwal district was also delayed for further discussions.