LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) issued warning notices for improvement to 4,000 food points and penalized 1,100 food outlets with hefty fines during a province-wide grand operation against reusing cooking oil in restaurants, hotels and other eateries last month.

The purpose of the operation was to curb the reuse of rancid oil and ensure the food safety standards defined in the Punjab Pure Food Regulations. PFA Director General Muhammad Asim Javaid said that food teams inspected totalled 5,679 food points and stopped the production of 47 eateries by imposing emergency prohibition orders (EPOs) till further order.

He said the authority took action against the food business operators for using rancid oil in the preparation of food dishes. He said the teams also recovered 6,300 litres of substandard and expired edible oil during different raids which was discarded.

The authority also got FIRs lodged against two food points over violation of the PFA Act with the respective police stations.

Javaid said the consumption of rancid oil in food is harmful to human health while there is also a complete ban on adding new cooking oil to used oil and using it in food. Food points can only sell used cooking oil to biodiesel-producing companies, he added.

He said the PFA had been taking indiscrimination action against adulteration mafia and counterfeiters under the zero-tolerance policy.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024