MULTAN, Feb 20 (APP):The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) conducted a major operation in Khanewal and Vehari aimed at eliminating the sale and production of prohibited and expired food items.
The food safety teams inspected a variety of food outlest, including loader rickshaws supplying food items, dairy manufacturing units, hotels, and grocery stores.
A dairy production unit was shut down for producing counterfeit desi ghee and margarine. The unit was ordered to cease operations until corrective measures are implemented, and a case has been filed against the owner.
The teams confiscated and discarded a variety of harmful food items, including 200-kg dead poultry, 50-kg adulterated desi ghee, 30-kg margarine, 40-kg China salt, 150 sachets of banned gutka, 47 litres of expired soft drinks, and 10-kg counterfeit packaging material.
A grinding unit located at 103 Club Road, Vehari, was fined Rs. 50,000 for using scrap materials in spice packaging. A pansar store at Adda Machiwal was fined Rs. 35,000 for selling China salt, while a hotel at Lorri Adda, Burewala, received a Rs. 12,000 fine for using China salt in food preparation. Additionally, a grocery store in Mohalla Dharmpur, Mailsi, was fined Rs. 10,000 for selling gutka. Two stores in Karampur and Pul Dhimki, Mailsi, were collectively fined Rs. 17,000 for selling expired cold drinks.
In a total, Rs. 124,000 in fines were imposed on six food business operators for various violations.
During an inspection of a loader rickshaw in Khanewal, food safety teams recovered 200-kg dead poultry. The supplier was unable to provide any records of purchase or sale, leading to the destruction of the poultry and the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the supplier at the Thana Abdul Hakim police station.
