More points for the PFA

The Punjab Food Authority has issued a new report card for restaurants and other eateries in Punjab

The Punjab Food Authority (PFA), which has made headlines across the country over the past few weeks, has issued a new report card for restaurants and other eateries in Punjab. This report or system of points sets down a criterion for restaurants according to which they are graded into A, B, C and D categories. Out of a total of 100 points, the A grade restaurants need to achieve 90 or above. This is intended to indicate the food they serve is entirely risk-free. The formula continues down to the D grade restaurants, which must earn over 60 points and are rated as low risk in terms of the threat they present to customers eating there.

The criterion, developed for the first time, has been meticulously worked out on the basis of the quality of ingredients served, the hygienic conditions in food preparation areas, the hygiene observed by staff and the conditions of bathrooms and other hand-washing facilities. Eateries are to be inspected regularly, those at the lowest categories more frequently than the others, to determine if they are meeting standards. Those which fail to do so will be sealed. Many, of course, have already faced this fate.

The measure is a welcome one in terms of protecting consumer rights. Over the years, consumers have been regularly exposed to the dangers of eating at restaurants serving unhygienic food, and being charged exorbitant prices for it. We need similar monitoring in other provinces as well. While Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has made some progress in this regard, Sindh and Balochistan lag far behind. The people in these provinces, too, need to know about the quality of food they are being served and in what conditions it is prepared. By adopting the grading scale that the PFA has formulated, the customer will be presented with a clear picture as to what he or she is paying for. The idea and the dynamic approach adopted by the authority need to be taken into other spheres as well so that people can be sure they are receiving quality service in return for parting with their hard-earned income.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th,  2015.

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