The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) is unable to check the consignments of milk entering the city in a thorough fashion, Pakistan Today has learned through its survey.
The authority has not been able to get the standard of both open and packed milk checked through any labs, and is instead relying on milk-kits, which are insufficient when it comes to determining the quality of milk.
PFA has also held its meetings with the Gawala Milk Association to ensure quality supply of milk for the city but so far no other measures to check the milk being sold have been taken. Raids have been focused on specific areas and persons that are suspicious.
The authority does not have enough staff at hand and those being assigned duties daily do enough to show the department’s performance. Officials of the PFA also revealed that PFA only has 22 staffers, who cannot nab all substandard milk in the city.
A senior official assisting Ayesha Mumtaz anonymously told Pakistan Today that the PFA is not able to completely check the sale of milk in the city. It is only able to keep an eye on the entry points. The senior officer revealed that shopkeepers selling milk in city are at liberty to do as they please. They have been selling substandard milk to people, and spreading various diseases.
Punjab Food Authority displayed a banner in its office that shopkeepers including milk-sellers must provide their medical report to the authority if they are to run their business. Officials from the Punjab Food Authority revealed, while requesting anonymity, that PFA so far has not received any survey or report conducted from any institution, including hospitals, as to how many children are falling ill after drinking substandard milk.
While the authority does have a complaint number (0800-2345) it has not been highlighted anywhere in the city and most citizens are unaware that they can complain about the milk they are consuming. No complaint boxes or boards have been installed for any citizen feedback, so there’s no way that people can come forward about the quality of milk that they are consuming – both packed and otherwise.
PFA data showed that the Authority discarded 170,000 litres of milk between March and April 2015 and 70,000 litres of milk between July and August 2015.
One officer assisting the authority also anonymously revealed that it has no data that how many litres of milk is coming into the city and how many litre of milk is being mixed with fertilisers, detergents and starch, and is being sold in city.
So the authority has raided Dairy Omang milk, Dairy Pure, Dairy Rozana, Dairy Angro and Dairy Grow and the companies are fighting in courts against the PFA action, an officer told Pakistan Today.
He said that the PFA has also reduced the fats standards of milk. It has gone down from five per cent to only 3.5 per cent in its rules, which does not meet international standards.
The authority has also started the process of issuance of license for food items to sellers, as milk-sellers are selling open milk in the city. Many have got the licenses but they cannot not be checked thoroughly by the Authority, because it needs a bigger team.
A source from the authority was also of the view that the PFA would not be able to expand to all of Punjab because the ruling party was not cooperating with it. The source was of the view that they were concerned about the votes they need to win elections, which would suffer because wrongdoers would exert their pressure.
Punjab Food Authority’s Ayesha Mumtaz refused comment on the matter.
