Food authority seals K-P MPA hostel canteen

Facility was serving unhygienic food to lawmakers

PESHAWAR: People enacting laws for food safety were found eating food cooked under most unhygienic conditions.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority (KPFHA) on Thursday sealed MPA Hostel’s canteen after a detailed inspection of the kitchen.

KPFHA conducted laboratory test of the food and found it unfit for human consumption though lawmakers had been eating it for quite some time.

The frozen food section of the canteen did not meet the hygiene standards of KPFHA. The drainage system of the facility was also clogged.

KPFHA Director General Riaz Khan Mahsud while commenting on the crackdown said that food authority has the mandate to check every food outlet in the province. He furthered that it was KPFHA mandate to ensure provision of safe and healthy food in every corner of the province.

Director Operations Khalid Khan Khattak giving details of the crackdown told Daily Express that the canteen was checked for personal and food hygiene.

He revealed that both personal hygiene of the kitchen staff and food safety situation were not satisfactory. Khattak added that Chinese salt or monosodium glucomate, was also recovered from the MPA Hostel Canteen, though the taste enhancer has been banned by the supreme court.

He directed the deputed teams to arrange follow-up visits to ensure implementation of food safety standards.

Assistant Director Food Safety Dr Murad Ali said that he along with his team inspected the canteen for food safety standards and violation of these would not be tolerated.

He also told that the canteen has been sealed for three days and instructions for improvement were given to the owner. Dr Murad maintained that the relevant quarters were communicated about the poor sanitation and hygiene situations of the canteen.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2019.