About 44 percent of unbranded food samples collected from various schools or educational institutions were found unfit for human consumption while not a single branded food product was found pathogen. It was also important to note that exporting items related to children products were found safe from contamination.
The study was unveiled at a seminar on "Quality Assessment Survey of Food Items & Drinking Water of Schools/Educational Institutes in Capital Cities of Pakistan" organised by the Food & Marine Resource Research Centre, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), here on Wednesday.
The study also found 36 percent of water samples and 48 percent of unbranded beverage samples contaminated with indicator and pathogenic bacteria.
Sindh Minister for Health Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, while speaking as the chief guest, said the statistics was very alarming and the issue needed immediately attention.
The minister said we should need to make people aware of substandard food items and contamination in liquid products. Water contamination was the main issue for the government of Sindh, which claimed several lives in the province, he added. In major cities the government would able to monitor the water born diseases but in remote areas monitoring it was not very effective, he said.
He assured PCSIR of full government support in research work or survey programmes. He also invited PCSIR to visit areas in the province where water contamination diseases were on the rise.
The minister said that children were prone to diseases and some profiteers threatened the life of the children by selling substandard foodstuff outside or inside the schools. In his address Chairman PCSIR Dr Javed Arshad Mirza said the project "Quality Assessment Survey of Food Items and Drinking Water of Selected School/Educational Institutions of Capital Cities of Pakistan" was among those projects, which the federal government had awarded under PSDP.
The project has been implemented in all the four provincial capitals and the federal capital, simultaneously, he added. He informed that 44 percent of the unbranded food samples were found to be unfit due to the presence of non-food grade colours. He further said 36 percent of water samples and 48 percent of unbranded beverage samples were found contaminated with indicator and pathogenic bacteria and were thus unfit for consumption.
He also said that no branded sample either of food or beverage was found to be unfit for human consumption. After the implementation of ISO 9000 certification the manufacturers of the branded food and beverage products have adopted quality production.
PCSIR Chairman said children were very much effected by the health hazards. He recommended that some serious action would be taken at the provincial and national level for the improvement in the quality of food and water. He hoped that the findings would serve as the guideline for the regulatory authorities for legislation.
He suggested the regulatory authorities to give top priority to ensure safe drinking water and enforce the use of genuine food grade colours within specified quantities. Director General PCSIR Dr Tanzil Ahmed Usmani said the study was of serious concern for the public health, in general, and to children's health, in particular.
He said the research study was initially submitted by PCSIR Complex Lahore but considering its importance the Ministry of Science and Technology later extended it to all the four provincial capitals and Islamabad.
He informed that PCSIR Laboratories at Karachi was the first public sector laboratory in Pakistan, which had been accredited to ISO-17025 and also certified to ISO-9001-2000 standards.
He said that under the project 2,000 samples of food, 1,220 beverages and 780 water samples were collected from 490 educational institutes located in different areas in Karachi.
He said food samples were categorised as fried or coloured, covering branded and unbranded products, he said and adding beverage samples were also categorised as coloured or colourless and from branded and unbranded.
Fried products were tested for their rancidity and about 21 percent samples were found unfit, he said. The coloured food items and beverage samples were tested for their colours and about 44 percent of the unbranded samples were found to contain non-food grade colours, he added.
A total of 36 percent water samples and 48 percent of unbranded beverages were found contaminated. Later the technical session of the seminar was held. Scientists presented their findings on their practical approaches.