CJP for stricter action against substandard milk

Says court will ensure every child in country consumes safe food

LAHORE: Pakistan’s top judge has directed the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) to tighten the noose around the manufacturers and sellers of substandard milk, saying the court will ensure every child in the country consumes safe milk.

The orders from Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar came on Thursday during the hearing of a petition against the sale of substandard milk.

PFA Director-General Noorul Ameen Mengal told the two-judge bench that effective measures were being taken to ensure provision of quality milk and food to citizens.

The authority, he said, was taking actions against vendors of unhygienic food and milk samples of 21 companies had been sent to the PCSIR for laboratory examination. He added the Punjab Food Standards and Quality Regulations 2017 had been drafted and would be notified shortly in order to align the existing rules with international standards.

The new rules would require pre-qualification of imported raw material to be registered with the PFA so that usage of substandard imported products may be curbed. Minimum pasteurisation of milk protocols have been integrated into the regulations with a grace period of five years so that sale of loose milk, may be curbed for standardising the end product.

The PFA chief also submitted a report about different milk manufacturers that revealed that Doce Pasteurised Milk had been found safe for human consumption but traces of e-coli were detected in it. E-coli is a bacterium commonly found in intestines of humans and other animals, some strains of which can cause severe food poisoning.

Samples of Gourmet, Engro Foods, Sharif Dairy, Fauji Foods and Prema have also been deemed fit for consumption, the report stated.

Expressing concerns over the report, petitioner Barrister Zafarullah Khan said the samples had been taken in winter, during which shelf life of milk was longer as compared to the summer season.

At this, Chief Justice Saqib assured the petitioner the court would have the samples re-examined in summer. “Action against adulterated milk should not be restricted to Punjab alone but expanded to the whole country,” the CJP observed.

The bench adjourned hearing for a month and directed the PFA to submit reports of the sample analysis of the remaining companies.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2017.