LAHORE: The Punjab government has announced that all slaughterhouses, small food outlets, and roadside eateries across the province will be registered with the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) to ensure the supply of hygienic and high-quality meat and food items to consumers.
Dr Kiran Khurshid, Secretary for Price Control and Commodities Management, disclosed this during her visit to the PFA headquarters on Friday. Director General PFA Asim Javaid briefed her on the Authority’s performance, initiatives, awareness programmes, school nutrition programme, and food safety training activities.
Discussions also covered milk production and supply, the “Eat Safe” campaign, food waste reduction, halal food standards, and environmental sustainability measures. Dr Kiran instructed officials to promptly introduce uniforms and body camera surveillance for food safety officers to enhance transparency. She further directed strict monitoring of hygiene standards, food quality, and health screening of food handlers at small food businesses and roadside stalls.
The secretary ordered that all small food units in Lahore be registered within 15 days and a compliance report submitted. She also emphasized the immediate registration of all slaughterhouses across Punjab to guarantee a safe and reliable meat supply.
DG PFA Asim Javaid informed her that the Authority had achieved record progress this year compared to the previous year, resulting in noticeable improvements in food quality. He reported that over 1.1 million food business units were inspected, 2,099 cases registered, and 3,446 outlets sealed, while fines exceeding Rs1.422 billion were imposed. He added that 917 cases involved milk adulteration and 434 cases concerned the sale of unfit meat. As a result, 2.396 million litres of counterfeit milk and 951,537 kilograms of substandard meat were destroyed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025