LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Monday closed down four breakfast points and imposed Rs625,000 cumulative fine on 21 others over violation of the Act.
The action was taken while carrying out an operation against breakfast points in the provincial metropolis under the supervision of PFA Director General Muhammad Asim Javaid. They visited 42 breakfast points on Temple Road and in the area of Thokar Niaz Baig to inspect the food safety standards and quality parameters.
He said the PFA team shut down four breakfast points due to the worst condition of hygiene, poor storage system, presence of rusty vessels and failure to take measures to control pests.
He said that expired meat and rotten vegetables were also preserved in the dirty freezers. Apart from that, workers at the food points did not have medical certificates.
The director general further said the authority issued hefty fine tickets to 21 food business operators for not complying with previous warnings and instructions.
He said the use of substandard food made from poor ingredients is very harmful to human health all possible measures are being taken to bring all stages from food preparation to delivery in accordance with the international standards.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Punjab Salma Butt visited the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) Headquarters and directed the Director General to immediately ensure the execution of the innovation of e-procurement, a paperless policy and license registration.
On the occasion, PFA DG Muhammad Asim Javaid gave a detailed briefing on the administrative affairs, management structure and the performance of the all wings. She also visited the state-of-the-art laboratory of the PFA.
Salma Butt appreciated the efforts of the PFA regarding the increase in operations, lab testing and licensing compared to earlier, despite limited resources. She said that nutrition guide programmes will be started in Punjab for the good health of men and women. She added that nutrition guides and screening camps will also be set up in cities as well as villages and towns.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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