Health and hygiene: Punjab Food Authority to take over Faisalabad next

New rules for authority being framed, say officials.

LAHORE:

The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) is to finally expand its operations out of this city and take over regulation of the food industry in Faisalabad in some two months, The Express Tribune has learnt.

“We are almost ready. Hopefully in two months we will be able to take over Faisalabad district as well,” said PFA Director General Asad Islam Mahani.

The authority was set up under the Punjab Food Authority Act of 2011 to monitor the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food throughout the province, but has so far only been able to set up offices in Lahore district.

According to PFA records, the authority issued tickets to 543 restaurants, 666 wedding halls, 2,710 bakeries, 211 factories and 10,486 road side food eateries for violating food safety rules in Lahore district from July 2 – the day it became operational – to December 31.



The authority’s food safety officers took 2,309 samples and served 2,198 improvement notices, as well as sealing 26 premises. They handed out a total of Rs1.704 million in fines, of which Rs832,500 has been paid. The authority also collected Rs2.83 million from eateries in the form of licence fees.

Mahani said that the authority had performed well despite not having its own lab – samples are being sent to the city government lab on Poonch Road  and in the absence of various rules regarding its functions. PFA officials said that these rules were being drawn up and would be presented to the Law Department for vetting in two months.

Mahani said that apart from launching campaigns against substandard ketchup, milk and cooking oil, the authority had also educated eateries about the importance of good hygiene.

The director general said that they were also engaging food factories to teach them about good hygiene practices. The PFA is also building a geographical information system and management information system on the city’s eateries and food factories online.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2013.