ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the Senate on Wednesday that there had been cases of haram meat being sold in the city since January this year.

The minister told the Senate that four animals that had already been dead before being slaughtered were found in butcher shops since January. Complaints from locals about the sale of dead animals in the capital led to the arrest of two butchers on August 22.

The residents of Khana Dak informed the police about a meat shop which bought dead animals from different villages of the capital as well as cattle farms. Cases were registered against owners of the shop.

Senator Samina Abid asked the interior minister if the sale of such meat was continuing in the capital to which Chaudhry Nisar said that the capital administration had taken effective measures to prevent the sale of haram meat and that no other cases had since been reported.

However, the minister said, in some instances the department has confiscated substandard meat that was injurious to health and 19 shops were raided since January from which 95kg of meat had been seized. He said 27 meat samples were sent to check for quality and that five cases had been registered in this regard.

The minister informed senators that since January, 26 hotels and bakeries had been sealed and fines amounting to Rs940,000 were imposed on their owners.

Senator Talha Mehmood asked the interior minister about cases of adulteration in the city over the past five years and about the arrests made in this regard.

To this Chaudhry Nisar said 985 samples were sent to the National Institute of Health’s nutrition division for analysis.

Out of these, 448 cases of substandard material and adulteration surfaced. He said FIR’s had been registered against owners of the businesses and cases were sent to the courts.

When asked, the minister said the health department and the Capital Development Authority’s health directorate were responsible for checking quality of food served in the capital. However, under the Pure Food Ordinance of 1960, the Food Department, too, has powers to check for adulteration

He said the campaign against adulteration and substandard material in food had gained momentum under the supervision of assistant commissioners and a magistrate accompanying officials from different departments on inspections.

He said raids were frequently carried out against violators of the Pure Food Ordinance.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2015

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