LAHORE: To ensure provision of healthy and standard food items to the masses, the Punjab Food Authority is checking not only the private food item sellers and manufacturers but also the premises being managed by the government.

In this connection, the PFA teams raided the Sunday bazaars in different cities of the province under the supervision of the authorities’ director general.

In Lahore, they raided the bazaars set up in Model Town, Wahdat Colony and Township, whereas local teams checked such temporary markets in Multan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Kasur, Nankana Sahib and Sheikupura.

During these raids, over 1,200 kilogram rotten fruits, vegetables and other edibles were discarded collectively.

PFA DG Noorul Amin Mengal warned the stall owners at Sunday bazaars of strict action, including sealing of their shops, if they failed to improve the quality of the items put on sale by his next visit.

The DG recommended shifting of some of the bazaars set up along sewage drains to some other places in consultation with the local administrations.

Meanwhile, a factory located in Shahdra was sealed for manufacturing jams using rotten contents. The PFA staff discarded 15,000kg jam and 26,000kg raw material during the raid.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2017