Pakistan Detects Adulteration in Food and Beverage

Pakistan’s Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has detected and discarded thousands of kilograms of adulterated food and beverage items in September, with over 100 brands deemed to be “unsafe”, amidst its efforts to intensify inspections in the province, a report in FoodNavigator-Asia has said.  In its most recent raid on October 6 alone, the agency discarded some 28,700 kg worth of food items, all of which failed standard laboratory tests, according to the PFA’s Facebook page.  

Adulterated oil has also been a major subject of focus during the month, with 103 ghee and cooking oil brands declared ‘unfit for human health’ by the PFA, with some 68,000 kg of these being removed from the market and discarded.  Among the brands affected included popular cooking oil brands Dalda, Sufi, Eva, and ConAgra’s Sundrop.  Dalda, Sufi and Eva were previously named to be amongst the Top Seven Cooking Oil Brands in Pakistan by local online grocery Tazamart.