PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority has cracked down against adulteration and substandard food items across the province.
The authority teams discarded large quantities of unsafe food and sealed a hotel in Peshawar.According to the authority’s spokesperson, food safety teams carried out inspections in several districts and confiscated hundreds of litres of adulterated milk, unsafe and rancid cooking oil, substandard beverages and dead chicken. The seized items were destroyed on the spot, while heavy fines were imposed and improvement notices issued to a number of food businesses.
In Peshawar, inspections were conducted under the supervision of Director General Kashif Iqbal Jilani and Director Operations Muhammad Yousaf.Teams visited kebab shops and samosa and pakora outlets at Jameel Chowk (Ring Road), Taro Jabba and adjoining areas. Cooking oil was tested on the spot through a mobile food testing laboratory.
One hotel was sealed over poor hygiene and use of substandard oil, while several vendors were fined and unsafe oil and ghee discarded. The Town-III team inspected markets and the Industrial Estate in Hayatabad, where samples of cooking oil and spices were tested and expired items destroyed.
During an inspection of a beverage manufacturing unit, officials found counterfeit drinks being prepared under the name of a well-known brand.Around 200 litres of substandard beverages were destroyed and heavy fines imposed. Improvement notices were issued for compliance with food safety standards.
In Abbottabad, the food safety team set up a checkpoint at Muslimabad checkpost and inspected food items entering the district from late night till early morning using the mobile testing laboratory.
Approximately 300 liters of adulterated milk were seized and disposed of. Oil used at various iftar stalls was also tested and found to be unsafe in some cases, leading to its disposal.In Charsadda, teams intercepted a vehicle carrying dead chickens during early morning inspections of food transport vehicles.
The consignment was confiscated and a heavy fine imposed. Inspections were also conducted in the Sherpao branch area, where improvement notices were issued over hygiene lapses. In Malakand, inspections at Thana Bazaar covered grocery stores, meat shops, milk sellers, kebab shops and bakeries.
At a butcher shop, 30 kilograms of minced meat adulterated with a prohibited colour were recovered and destroyed, and a fine imposed. In Lower Dir, teams set up a blockade at Chakdara Interchange during Sehri and tested milk supply vehicles through the mobile laboratory.
