LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Thursday seized 3,600kg unhygienic meat from a slaughterhouse in the Bakar Mandi area and registered a case against its owner.

PFA Additional Director General (Operations) Rafia Haider said the raid was conducted on the tip-off of PFA’s meat safety team. The authority confiscated 90 maunds of germ-infested meat and set it ablaze at the Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company’s furnace. The team arrested all the suspects from the spot and handed them over to the police while registering an FIR against them.

Ms Rafia said the meat was to be supplied to the local butcher shops.

On the other hand, the PFA closed down another 11 food points and imposed fine worth Rs415,500 on 39 food business operators (FBOs) during crackdowns in other cities of Punjab.

The food authority sealed a soda factory in Multan for using illegal chemicals. In Sargodha, it shut down three food businesses, including a water plant, a sweet unit and an ice factory, for improper labeling and presence of cigarette butts in the production area.

In Gujranwala, five food points, including a grinding unit (chakki), frozen food, BBQ point, milk shop and one other eatery, were sealed for using cosmetic and non-food grade colour, presence of insects and multiple food hygiene issues.

The PFA has sealed a salt processing unit and ice factory in Dera Ghazi Khan over failure to meet the food standards, presence of animals in the production area and failure to provide medical certificates of their workers.

Besides, it imposed Rs72,500 fine on six eateries in Multan, Rs45,000 on four shopkeepers in Sargodha, Rs143,000 on 14 food business operators in Gujranwala and Rs155,000 fine on 15 food points in DG Khan division for violating provincial food regulations.

The PFA discarded a huge quantity of substandard and poor quality food products during raids, including 1,600 packs of gutka, 400kg mango base, 20 liter adulterated milk, 10kg each chemicals, 400kg red pepper, 350kg pepper powder, 700 packets of ice cream, 10kg colored salanty, 30 litres beverages and 100kg adulterated turmeric.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2018