GUJRANWALA: Punjab Food Authority (PFA) Gujranwala Deputy Director Mehtab Khan said that in order to ensure the provision of quality food to the citizens, PFA was conducting a crackdown on a large scale against the selling of unhygienic food products. Raids were also conducted on regular basis at various restaurants, bakeries, hotels, food stalls and milk shops. He further said that PFA’s efforts proved to be fruitful because drastic improvement was seen in the market. While talking to “Daily Times”, he said that PFA was establishing labs in different areas to get early results of food sample testing whereas the current procedure which includes sending the sample to labs in Lahore, was delaying their work. Mehtab Khan further said that rotten vegetables and fruits which are stored for more than their storage life are the primary cause of intestinal diseases and food poisoning. He warned that any business found storing substandard and chemically treated fruits and vegetables would be sealed and their merchandise would be discarded on the spot. He also said that standards of chemicals and insecticides applied on fruits and chemicals were also being rationalized. He added that PFA was utilising all resources available and was taking strict action against milk adulteration to control the sale of tainted milk. He said that PFA was already discarding the tainted milk stock at various milk shops and would continue to do so. He further said that PFA had already started the implementation of ban on energy drinks and soft drinks in schools with a strict operation already underway. He added that schools and suppliers had already been served with notices and any violators would be dealt with harshly. He also urged the heads and owners of private and government schools to cooperate with PFA. Published in Daily Times, November 7th 2017.