PFA seals snack manufacturing factory

Workers were using expired ingredients to make toffees, biscuits and lollipops

LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) sealed a factory on Wednesday for preparing snacks using expired food ingredients in the provincial capital.



PFA Spokesperson Hafiz Qaiser revealed that food safety teams, operating on a tip-off, raided the factory located in Glasgow Town Gajumata and caught workers red-handed. The employees were preparing various snacks, including toffees, biscuits, lollipops and other food stuffs using expired ingredients.

Further, the food was being sold to markets after changing the expiration date on the items, he added.

Food safety teams also discovered a plethora of insects. The factory also had poor sanitation and hygiene and was using prohibited ingredients such as artificial colouring and flavours to manufacture the snacks.

As many as 18,000 packets of substandard snacks were seized during the raid, he maintained.

PFA officials also charged 41 food business operators with heavy fines for violating provincial food laws. In addition to this, the authority issued improvement notices to 289 food points and discarded a huge quantity of substandard food during various raids.



Meanwhile, PFA teams continued their drive against unhygienic food points and inspected various eateries across the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2018.