The provincial food regulatory body carried out a special drive to ensure the implementation of the ban on the sale of carbonated drinks in the educational institutions of Punjab.
As many as 846 schools were checked among 18 canteens of the different schools sealed in a daylong operation in the various cities of Punjab on Tuesday. The food safety teams were led by the food safety officers of the respective area.
PFA Director General Captain (R) Muhammad Usman said that 828 schools canteen were found to follow the instructions regarding the ban of carbonated drinks in schools, however, some other minor violations were witnessed by the PFA’s teams. He said that PFA has penalized 10 canteens with heavy fine tickets and served 324 warning notices for bringing improvement before ending the summer vacations in the educational institutions.
In Lahore, PFA’s watchdogs visited 193 schools and closed down its six canteens over discovered carbonated drinks during raids, he added. He said that authority has conducted hundreds of follow up visits among schools located across Punjab for rechecking that schools are strictly following a ban on carbonated drinks or not.
DG further said that PFA would be started a grand operation of school canteen checking after opening schools. Parents should prefer to give a lunch box before going children to schools, he mentioned.