47 ice cream brands declared unsafe

–PFA discards 24,125 litres of frozen dessert, ice cream during multiple raids in City

LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has declared 47 ice cream brands as unfit for human consumption after releasing the sample results of 156 ice cream and frozen dessert brands.

PFA Director General Muhammad Usman stated that products from Gourmet, Chamman, Royal and Badami Kulfa were included in the list. The authority is now removing their products from the market, he said. The samples were collected in September 2018.

He maintained that anybody can download the results from the authority’s website. PFA directed that all those brands which failed to meet the standards stop production. The authority will collect samples for another test after ensuring proper reforms, he said.

The authority claims to have discarded 24,125 litres of frozen dessert and ice cream during raids conducted in the different areas of Lahore on Gourmet Foods and Chamman Ice cream outlets. Unfit ice cream products were removed from Gourmet’s branches at Umar Chowk, Township, Shama Cinema, Samanabad, Raja Market, Ayubia, Samanabad, G-1 Market, Jagwar Chowk Johar Town, Shadman, Yateem Khana, Multan Road, Airline Raiwind Road, Punjab Society, Qila Qasim Shah and Military Accounts Society.

Similarly, the enforcement teams raided six outlets of Chamman Ice Cream and sealed 13,426 litres ice cream and frozen dessert stock. The raids were conducted on its outlets at Mall Road, Kareem Market, Faisal Town, Thokar Niaz Baig, Bahria Town, and Daroghawala.

Meanwhile, the PFA has seized 1,300 kilogrammes of substandard and unhygienic meat belonging to emaciated and sick animals during an operation in the provincial capital on Saturday.

Enforcement teams sealed four beef points for failing to meet the authority’s food and safety standards. The DG revealed that the authority seized 450kg meat from Hajveri Beef Shop, 400kg meat from Jillani Beef Shop, 300kg meat from Numan Beef Shop and 150kg meat from Shahzad Beef Shop. He added that all the confiscated meat was sent to the Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company for discarding.

The director general maintained that PFA’s utmost priority is to ensure the provision of safe and health meat for the citizens of the province. He said that the use of substandard meat is unfit for human consumption and causes several diseases. He appealed to citizens to inform PFA if they witness unhygienic meat in their surroundings.