Following the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) continued its grand operation against adulterators and counterfeiters to make Punjab adulteration-free food province.
Food safety teams visited hundreds of eateries, general stores, departmental stores, meat shops, pan shops and other food points. The purpose of the inspection was to ensure the provision of healthy, safe and adulteration-free food in Punjab. This was informed by PFA Director General Irfan Memon.
He said that the authority has sealed 10 food points and penalized more than 50 food business operators with Rs576,500 cumulative fine. According to details, PFA Gujranwala team has sealed two poultry shops due to using non-food graded drums for slaughtering chickens, not adopting cone slaughtering system and not having medical certificates. PFA Wazirabad team closed down Saddiq Store and Mahboob Brothers merchant during different raids for preserving food at foot level and not declaring a separate corner for expired items.
A team has sealed Imran Traders in Sialkot for selling substandard carbonated drinks and failing to produce receipts. The authority has revered 3,393 litre drinks from the spot including 774 litre Coca-Cola, 828 litre sprite, 834 litre Mountain Dew, 126 litre 7 Up and 831 litre Mirinda. In another raid, food team sealed Nayyab Khan Spices over proved contamination in spices and incomplete labelling.
PFA shut down Umer Hall Canteen of Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan for using substandard milk, unhygienic meat and loose colours in the preparation of food dishes. Apart from that, the team had witnessed open drains and accumulated water in the processing area. In DG Khan, a production unit of Sarani Sweets was sealed after recovering untraceable colours and for failing to meet food safety standards.
In Rawalpindi, food authority has raided Sheikh Abdul Qayyum and sealed it due to selling tainted spices. The raiding team has confiscated 25kg mixed spices, 113kg chaat masala and 48kg substandard chilli. PFA Jhelum team shut down a food point over poor cleanliness arrangements and continues violation of laws.
On the other hand, PFA’s enforcement teams have uprooted unhealthy vegetable crops in the provincial metropolis by ploughing on 120 Kanal land while carrying out an operation under the supervision of its Director General Irfan Memon.
According to details, PFA has discarded thousands of kilograms of toxic vegetables including cabbage, cauliflower and beetroot. He said that the use of wastewater to irrigate crops causes health diseases after adding its toxic materials in the ready crops. He said farmers can cultivate only alternative/non-edible crops with sewerage and industrial wastewater like bamboos, jute, indoor plants and flowers.
Irfan Memon further said that the seemingly fresh vegetables irrigated with from wastewater have to be extremely harmful to human health. He said that vegetables are being irrigated through tubewell water as compared to last year practice from farmers. He has warned farmers to avoid to irrigate crops with sewerage water, otherwise, PFA will plough on crops as per law. The director general added that the PFA is vigilantly monitoring to ensure the safe food from farm to plate, he added.