PFA in action

Punjab Food Authority is back in action against the sale of tainted food products after a hiatus

In Karachi in January 2015, a young girl consumed a burger that resulted in her most unfortunate demise. In this backdrop of other similar stories, it is enlightening to read, albeit coming out of a different province, that the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) is back in action against the sale of tainted food products after a hiatus. The mass profiteering taking place across the country through the consumption of subpar and often toxic foods is dishonest and highly unethical. Patrons should be promised basic hygiene and quality at the very least if they are paying bills as high as 200 per cent to 300 per cent the restaurants’ actual food costs. Ergo, the crackdown in Punjab is appreciated.

After the leniency period for restaurants to complete a self-check and ensure hygiene, the PFA should have no mercy; it should enforce food laws bearing the potential grim consequences, such as the one cited above, in mind. A meticulously outlined process for food health and safety checks should be published detailing rules and consequences for food expiration labels, kitchen and dining hall hygiene, waste disposal, food recycling and waste, waiter and chef appearance including clean clothes, aprons, hairnets and gloves, along with protocols for fumigation. Restaurants in developed countries, mentioned here because they provide advanced frameworks to aspire to, even discard ingredients hourly, such as milk if in a coffee shop — something for our dessert and dairy shops to consider. For existing restaurants, registrations should be suspended until proper food health and safety practices are in place. For new restaurants, a probational registration could be offered after passing an initial hygiene check. After a probationary period, a surprise visit should occur to determine whether the restaurant maintains hygiene standards upon which a permanent registration can be granted with the condition that annual or biannual checks will be instated. This is a crucial development in consumer health and safety in Pakistan and the spirit must be kept alive, along with expanding such control in other provinces.

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

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