LAHORE, Jan 04 (APP):The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Sunday sealed three renowned breakfast points during a special crackdown aimed at ensuring the provision of safe and hygienic food to the public.
According to a PFA spokesperson, the enforcement drive was conducted under the directions of Director General Punjab Food Authority Muhammad Asim Javaid and was led by Additional Director General Amina Rafiq during the weekly holiday. Food safety teams inspected 34 well-known breakfast outlets in Lahore, particularly those serving popular items such as halwa puri, nihari, paye and chana.
During the inspections, three outlets were sealed due to extremely poor hygiene conditions, while a large quantity of substandard cold drinks and more than two maunds of unsafe food items were recovered and destroyed on the spot. In addition, 10 food outlets were issued improvement notices, and heavy fines were imposed on violators who failed to rectify deficiencies despite repeated warnings.
The Director General stated that inspections revealed alarming violations, including unhygienic food storage, dirty and fungus-infested freezers, rusted utensils, expired meat, rotten vegetables and insect infestation. He added that open drains, filthy washing areas and foul-smelling environments were also observed at several outlets, while mandatory records and employees’ medical certificates were found missing.
He emphasized that the use of substandard ingredients and unhygienic practices poses serious health risks to consumers and would not be tolerated under any circumstances.
The DG further said that, on the directions of Chief Minister Punjab, continuous inspections of food outlets are being carried out across the province to safeguard public health. He reiterated that the eradication of adulteration and counterfeit food mafias remains a top priority of the Punjab Food Authority.
He appealed to the public to cooperate with the PFA in eliminating food adulteration and urged citizens to report complaints on the PFA helpline 1223.