RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has asked all sweet shops in the city to improve the quality of their products within seven days otherwise action would be taken against them.

The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) issued letters to all sweet shops to improve the hygienic condition of their kitchens and quality of their products. Health of the workers should also be maintained as per the standard operating procedure issued by the health department.

But the authority did not carry out any survey of the sweet shops and bakeries to check if the workers were suffering from tuberculosis or hepatitis. Those suffering from such diseases are not allowed to work in food outlets.

A senior official of the health department told Dawn that before the establishment of the food authority the health department used to conduct medical tests of food outlets’ workers.

Punjab Food Authority issues letters to owners to ensure no worker is suffering from tuberculosis or hepatitis

“But after the establishment of the authority, the health department stopped the practice,” he said.

According to labour laws, the official added, bakers and confectioners cannot sack employees suffering from any such illness but send them on three months’ vacation with salary. He said the health department would provide free medical treatment to the workers in government hospitals.

Workers suffering from TB and hepatitis could spread the disease among the consumers. He said the district health department had started a campaign against such outlets in order to ensure the provision of quality food to the citizens.

He admitted that adulterants used by unscrupulous elements could cause serious diseases such as cancer among the consumers. Under the Punjab Pure Food Rules 2008, an adulterator could be imprisoned for up to three years and fined up to Rs100,000.

He said according to information received by the health department, a number of bakeries and sweetshops in the city were not following the instructions and had failed to submit health certificates of their workers to the food authority.

The situation is worse in the cantonment areas where both the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards have failed to check the health certificates of food outlets’ workers.

CCB Vice President Raja Irfan Imtiaz said they would conduct a survey of the food outlets soon. He said some restaurants and food outlets had submitted medical certificates of their employees to the civic bodies but camps should be established to check the health of the workers.

RCB spokesman Qaisar Mehmood said the food branch checked the medical certificates in the cantonment areas. However, he did not know who issued medical certificates to the food outlets.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2018