The situation demands a strict check and balance across Pakistan, and highly trained food scientists
KARACHI: “In my belief, it is better to quit the job rather than show leniency on enforcement of rules and regulations,” said Ayesha Mumtaz, the director of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA), in an interview. Pakistan is a country known for its delectable cuisine. We all love food and we pride ourselves on being called foodies. But, what if I tell you that the food we are eating is prepared in an environment you wouldn’t even use as your toilet? Moreover, the majority of us are Muslims and even if we go abroad, we want to have halal food for which we seek halal restaurants. But, what if I tell you that the steak or grilled meat platter you’re eating here in our Islamic Republic of Pakistan is from a dead animal?
Identical questions arise when you hear news about Ms Mumtaz sealing restaurants and imposing fines as heavy as Rs75,000 on restaurants in top-notch hotels in Lahore, or when you hear about the sealing of restaurants in Peshawar, one of which is owned by an adviser to the chief minister, and the sealing of restaurants in Faisalabad. News like this gives me goosebumps and depresses me at the same time. If a five-star restaurant is providing expired and contaminated food prepared in totally unhygienic conditions, what would a desi street restaurant have been serving to customers? The situation demands a strict check and balance across Pakistan, and highly trained food scientists and security personnel need to be in charge of ensuring food quality across commercial establishments. Raids on businesses serving substandard food must be carried out regardless of resistance by powerful restaurant owners so that sincere foodies are able to remain loyal to those restaurants instead of being betrayed by the presentation of their menu items, not knowing the rancid source of their ingredients.
Syed Muhammed Omer Nadeem
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2015.
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