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LAHORE, Oct 2 (APP):The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has shut down 540 food points and penalized 10,592 eateries with Rs142.892 million cumulative fines besides issuing warning notices for improvement to thousands of food outlets.
PFA also lodged FIRs against 482 Food Business Operators (FBOs) on account of adulteration, counterfeiting and deceiving in the respective police stations across Punjab. This was revealed in the monthly performance report of PFA for September here on Thursday.
PFA Director General Muhammad Asim Javaid said that meat and food safety teams inspected 114,348 food points including production and processing units across the province to ensure the availability of healthy, safe and hygienic food to the people as per the vision of Punjab Chief Minister.
He said that the PFA’s food safety teams have been highly active, and conducted inspections at thousands of food joints, marking a 137 per cent increase in operations compared to the previous activities.
He said that the teams had examined millions of litres of milk, thousands of kilograms of meat, pulses, cooking oil, spices, beverages and other edible items. Meanwhile, the PFA’s enforcement teams collected 3,573 food samples for laboratory testing.
Muhammad Asim said that the provincial food regulatory body took action against FBOs due to adulteration, worst condition of hygiene, non-compliance with the authority’s instructions and violations of the Punjab Pure Food Regulations. The use of prohibited and non-food grade ingredients in the preparation of products is a serious offence, he said.
He further said that in Phase 2, the PFA has been distributing healthy meal boxes to 10,000 students in different schools under the School Nutrition Program. Similarly, the PFA is also providing awareness to FBOs, workers and consumers about food safety and hygiene through lectures, while flexes are also being displayed in this regard in various superstores, markets, marts, meat shops and general stores, he added.
He stated that all guidelines and principles for FBOs are provided on the Punjab Food Authority website, and anyone can easily find information on regulatory initiatives on the website.
He said that the PFA is taking all possible measures to make a ‘Healthy Punjab’ and ensure the provision of adulteration-free food in accordance with the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
He made it clear that there is no place for counterfeiters in Punjab, and their illicit business will be completely eradicated.