The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has sealed six meat shops and caught two trucks fully loaded with hundreds of kilograms unhygienic meat of emaciated, sick and dead chicken here on Thursday.
The action was taken against them while carrying out a special raid near to Tollinton Market on the tipoff vigilance cell by meat safety teams under the supervision of PFA Director General Irfan Memon. He said that PFA has foiled an attempt to supply of germs-infested meat which was carried from nearby areas of Lahore into the city for selling. While spreading the operation upon the information of drivers, PFA conducted raids in Tollinton Market against those sellers where that meat had to supply. The authority sealed Tariq Chicken, Raju Chicken Sale Center, Naveed Chicken, Adnan Chicken Shop, Qasim Chicken and Ali Hajveri Chicken Whole Sale Center over provide their involvement in this wicked practice. He said that PFA has seized 1,280kg meat and registered a case against two accused in the respective police station.
He further said that all confiscated unhygienic meat was set ablaze after putting into incinerator as per eco-friendly policy. He has appealed citizens to avoid already slaughtered chicken and buy fresh meat.
On the other hand, PFA sealed Amir Foods in Khanawal and Muhammad Ali Masala Factory in Vehari over failure their samples, proved adulteration, wrong labelling and unhygienic conditions. PFA Rajanpur team shut down Nasir Sweets Shop due to using germs-infested sugar syrup, the presence of washroom in the processing area and for failing to meet the hygienic working environment. The provincial food regulatory body also closed down Anus Karyana Store in Bahawalnagar and Yasir Karyana Store in Layyah owing to sale adulterated spices and for not taking measures to control pests.
In Mianwali, food authority team sealed Hasarvi Karyana & General Store for selling ‘gutka’ even though the sale of gutka is banned in Punjab by PFA. Muhammad Asif Karyana Store was also sealed in Khushab after recovering gutka packets inside of the shop. The raiding teams had witnessed the worst condition of hygiene and non-compliance of instructions.
An enforcement team of PFA Rawalpindi raided Pakistan Khana House and sealed it due to using rancid oil, poor cleanliness arrangements and for not complying with the Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018. Moreover, the PFA team closed down Noor Yousaf Foods in Gujranwala and sealed it for using rusty vessels to store stinky fish. A team of PFA also sealed Sadiq Mobile Center due to selling expired food items and failing to meet hygienic working environment.
The provincial food regulatory body sealed six food points and punished numerous shopkeepers with Rs61,000 over multiple violations of the Act in Faisalabad division. According to details, PFA shut down three sweets shops for using non-food graded colours and expired fruits (muraba), an abundance of insects and the worst condition of hygiene. PFA dairy safety team sealed two dairy points over violation of food labelling and failure to produce medicals. A team of PFA raided Chaudhry Food Industry and sealed it for using starch in the manufacturing of starch and poor storage system.