Food safety: Adulterated chilli powder sent for laboratory examination

LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Saturday continued its crackdown against those involved in selling and manufacturing substandard and adulterated food products.

A team of food safety officers led by PFA Operations Director Ayesha Mumtaz sealed Munawar Sweets and Bakhtawar Sweets in Akbari Mandi area for selling unlabelled food items and poor hygiene at the premises. A PFA official said food products at the two outlets did not have manufacturing and expiry dates displayed on them.

In a raid in Ravi Town area, PFA food safety officials seized over 1,000 kilograms substandard red chili powder from a storage facility. An inspection team member said that the chili powder was adulterated with husk and rice flour. He said samples had been sent to the laboratory for examination.

In Samanabad Town, an inspection team sealed production units of Super Bakery and Hanif Bakery on poor hygiene at the premises. An official said that the production areas were next to toilets and there were open drains flowing through them.

A PFA Allama Iqbal Town team sealed Madina Sweets in Ali Town area. An official said deep freezers were found to be rusty and broken. He said there was no record maintained by the management for raw materials used in preparation of food items. He said the management failed to produce medical certificates for workers employed at the facility.

A PFA Data Ganj Buksh Town team seized around 1,500 litre adulterated milk at a picket set up to check samples from vehicles carrying milk to various retailers in the city. Another team sealed Bismillah Milk Shop for selling adulterated milk. A raiding team official said milk had been stored at the shop in barrels used for keeping chemical products. The team also sealed a production unit of Bhola Sweets on finding food items stored in broken freezers and poor hygiene conditions.

In Aziz Bhatti Town, Hajvery Catering was sealed for not properly covering food items and keeping them on the floor; Krisco Bakers for selling expired food products and those without manufacturing and expiry dates displayed on them. Ismail Sweets and Shaukat Bakery were fined for violating safety regulations. Warnings were issued to the two outlets with directions to improve sanitation at their premises.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2016.