Two RY Khan mills sealed over rice mixing in flour

The quality of flour produced from government-issued wheat has come under scrutiny in Rahim Yar Khan following complaints that some flour mills were allegedly mixing low-cost broken rice, locally known as niko, with wheat to produce flour.

Acting on the issue highlighted by Express, District Food Controller Niaz Shah sealed two flour mills, Kohistan and Al-Qayum, for allegedly producing substandard flour, while samples from nine other flour mills were collected and sent to laboratories for analysis, officials said.

According to sources, complaints had emerged that some flour mills were allegedly mixing broken rice costing around Rs3,500 per maund with government wheat purchased at around Rs4,700 per maund.

Sources alleged that the broken rice was ground at private mills and transported to flour mills at night before being mixed with flour. The alleged practice was reportedly aimed at avoiding detection during routine inspections.

The allegations have also raised questions about the monitoring of government-issued wheat, the permit system and the mechanism used to track wheat supplied to flour mills.

Citizens said effective monitoring was necessary if government wheat was being issued specifically for the production of flour for public consumption. They called for greater transparency in monitoring both the use of subsidised wheat and the quality of the flour supplied to consumers.

During the latest action, the District Food Controller sealed the two mills and sent flour samples collected from nine additional mills to laboratories for testing.

According to sources, the laboratory reports are expected to help determine whether the flour met the prescribed quality standards and whether any unauthorised mixing had taken place.

Consumers have called for an investigation covering the entire supply chain rather than limiting inspections to flour mills.

They said records of government wheat supplies should be examined from the point of issuance to its use at mills and subsequent supply of flour to the market.

They also called for an independent review of the issuance, quantity and utilisation of wheat permits to establish where and for what purpose the government wheat was used.

Citizens further demanded that samples of flour produced against government wheat permits be collected under the supervision of an independent committee and tested at an accredited laboratory, with the findings made public.

They said if the alleged mixing of unauthorised ingredients was established through laboratory tests, the mills found responsible should face legal action.