K-P food authority seizes spurious milk powder

Will ask genuine product suppliers to warn dealers against selling fakes

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority (KPFHA) conducted a special market survey, and discovered that spurious powdered milk was being supplied in Pepal Pandi in Peshawar a consignment of which was immediately seized.

KPFHA Director General Riaz Khan Mahsud expressed his deep concern over the existence of fake powder milk and ordered a special crackdown to seize the product to avoid any possible risks to public health.

He stressed that these suppliers should be brought to justice to teach them a lesson. He also added that food authority surveillance team’s performance is appreciable for identifying fake products present in the market.

Mahsud directed the technical section of the authority to take up the issue with trade bodies as well as with genuine product suppliers to warn their dealers about this fake product.

KPFHA Director Operations Khalid Khan Khattak deputed a team comprising KPFHA Assistant Director Aneela Mahboob and food safety officers Ahmad Ali Shah and Wasif Shah to go to investigate the matter about suppliers and to whole sale dealers.

KPFHA Director Technical Dr Syed Abdul Sattar Shah warned the general public especially mothers avoid feeding their infants with this product for the time being.

He added that no product can be an alternative to breastfeeding “It’s a sign of danger as no such private lab exists in K-P to prepare such product and it may contain chemicals that directly affect an infant’s kidney. This product should immediately be recalled and necessary steps to be taken to stop onwards supply”  Sattar maintained.

Talking about spurious products found in market, KPFHA Assistant Director Aneela Mahboob said that an ordinary person cannot distinguish between the original and fake product. She disclosed that more than fifteen hundred packets of the product had been seized in the current crackdown.

She estimated that Peshawar market has been supplied this fake product in bulk quantity and it is a tougher task to recall the product from every shopkeeper. She revealed that massive awareness campaign has been intiated via social media platforms to warn and caution the general public not to use this product till clearance of this fake stock.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2019.