MINGORA: Residents of various areas here on Friday demanded of the district administration to take action against owners of factories manufacturing substandard snacks and other food items for children.

Residents of Rang Mohallah, Malookabad, Raja Abad, Watkey, Sharif Abad, Landeykas, Panr and other localities complained the factories were manufacturing substandard snacks and candies for children without check by the district administration.

“These factories have been set up in the residential areas where substandard snacks are manufactured in unhygienic conditions. The substandard snacks are being sold in the streets,” said Tahir Khan, a resident of Malookabad.

He said many children in his area had been suffering from stomach and skin diseases as they frequently ate the substandard snacks and candies manufactured locally.

“My two children got digestive issues and suffered stomach problems. When I took them to hospital the doctor said it was because of consuming low quality snacks,” he added.

Residents of Mingora said there was a snack factory in every other street where low quality snacks were manufactured.

“Daily, 20 to 30 mini trucks loaded with these snacks and other food items move to different parts of the district.

“Many trucks transport the locally produced snacks to other districts too without any check from the authorities,” Izharullah of Raja Abad complained.

Health experts in Mingora and Saidu Sharif said cases of children contracting stomach, throat and other digestion issues was increasing alarmingly.

“Majority of children brought to hospitals suffer from stomach, chest and throat diseases caused by eating substandard snacks. We have been warning the parents to refrain their children from eating such snacks but in vain,” Farooq Khan, a doctor in Saidu Teaching Hospital, noted.

He said the substandard snacks had negative impact on the physical and mental growth of children.

The residents demanded of the government to take immediate action against the snack factories.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2017