PHOTO: FILE
The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) declared 484 food handlers ‘ill’ and unfit for working in the food industry after the results of their medical report were found positive.
This was revealed by PFA Director General (retd) Captain Muhammad Usman on Tuesday. According to the statistics of Medical Screening Facility report for the month of November 2018, the PFA took the blood samples of 3,846 food handlers, workers among 3,362 workers passed and remaining failed in the medical screening test. As many as 1,786 people screened in Lahore, 662 workers in Multan and 744 people each in Rawalpindi and Gujranwala.
DG Food Authority Muhammad Usman said out of 484 people, 74 food handlers were found suffering from hepatitis C virus (HCV), 58 suffering from hepatitis B virus (HBV), 36 suffering from tuberculosis (TB) epidemic and 316 workers suffering from typhoid. He said there was no place for sick workers in the food industry because they cause viral diseases.
He said the PFA was providing a facility of six different tests including HCV, HBV, HIV, TB, Complete Blood Count (CBC) and typhoid in their laboratories established in Multan, Lahore, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi. He said the food watchdog would request the health department for the medical treatment of the affected workers. The PFA cannot permit any food handler or worker to work without getting a medical certificate from the provincial food regulatory body, he mentioned.
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