LAHORE: Food safety teams of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) have increased enforcement actions by 141.26 percent compared to previous years.
So far this year teams have inspected 867,713 food points, sealing 2,343 outlets and registering 1,186 FIRs over serious violations. PFA imposed fines worth Rs1.10 billion on 83,128 businesses while 15,185 food samples were dispatched for laboratory testing.
DG PFA Asim Javaid releasing these statistics here on Wednesday said that dairy safety teams checked 413,332 shops and suppliers covering 225.5 million litres of milk. Around 1.18 million litres of adulterated milk were discarded while 361 FIRs were registered against milk adulteration and 261 cases against the sale of unhygienic meat.
He said that meat safety task force inspected 63,510 meat shops and butchers, checking over 15.32 million kilograms of meat. More than 706,000 kilograms of substandard meat were destroyed, and 204 shops were sealed for failing to comply with hygiene standards.
DG PFA Muhammad Asim Javaid said that, unlike previous years, 2025 has proven to be a tough year for food violators as enforcement is being coupled with awareness campaigns to guide people toward better food choices. He further said that the authority has also launched Phase 2 of the School Nutrition Programme under which students of 40 government schools are receiving free health screenings and healthy lunch boxes.
He further stated that PFA is working in collaboration with relevant departments to further improve the quality of milk and meat, ensuring compliance with international food safety standards in line with the vision of the Chief Minister Punjab for delivering safe and quality food to the public.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025