Call for enhanced food governance

ISLAMABAD:

There is a need to increase taxes to 50% on ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, iced tea, ultra-processed meat, pizza and burgers, and divert the revenue for preventive and curative healthcare services, said public health expert and consultant physician, Dr Shakeel Mirza.

He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Islamabad Food Authority (IFA) and the Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA) at the Blackhole Islamabad on Tuesday.

“Food governance is closely linked with the effectiveness of health policy frameworks, and if our foods are substantially adding dietary risk factors such as free sugars, high quantities of sodium, and trans fats, we are losing not only health but also food security of our nation”, he said while discussing the One Health approach of the World Health Organization.

IFA Deputy Director Dr Tahira Siddique highlighted the authority’s efforts to ensure food safety in Islamabad.

She stressed the need to increase the lab and human resource capacity of IFA to test food samples for contaminants and high quantities of trans fats, sodium, and sugars, and called for more rigorous quality standards notified by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).