AJK Food Authority seals 35 milk shops

In a significant move against food adulteration, the AJK Food Authority sealed over 35 milk shops and imposed fines on 24 vendors in Mirpur district on Friday, following directives from the Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court (AJKHC), according to Abdul Hameed Kiani, secretary of the food authority.

During a recent hearing of a writ petition concerning the adulteration and sale of substandard food items, the AJKHC mandated the food authority to conduct thorough inspections of edible goods sold in the region and to ensure the supply of quality items while taking strict action against adulteration.

The petitioner had pointed out that adulteration and sale of substandard edible items were causing serious health hazards to the health and lives of the common people and prayed the court to direct the concerned authorities to take strict measures for the safety and healthy lives of the people.

Secretary Food Authority Kiani said that the crackdown was launched in all the 10 districts and small towns of the region including Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Poonch and other towns against hazardous edible food items including milk, water and soft drinks.

The secretary food authority said sellers of such items had been warned to get a license from the food authority before selling their products in the region.

The food authority was issuing licenses to sellers after getting test reports from an authentic laboratory of such edible items.

He said 24 milk shops out of 35 sealed in Mirpur district had been directed to open after charging a fine of Rs300,000 and thirty-seven thousand and getting a surety bond worth Rs500,000 each.

"Besides milk shops and nine water filtration plants had been traced in Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Poonch and Mirpur where unsafe water was being filled in bottles for selling in the markets with fake labels as mineral and purified water," Kiani observed.

He said all food safety officers in the region had been directed to ensure the supply of pure and standard food and edible items to the people after imposing a strict check on the manufacturers and suppliers according to the standards prescribed in the Food Authority Act 2017 and assured that the court order will be fully implemented in letter and spirit.

The action taken by the food authority was widely appreciated across AJK and termed a great move for a healthy life.