INDIA – The Sindh Food Authority (SFA) is planning to launch a mobile food testing laboratory to ensure the quality of food items and implementation of hygiene and safety standards in the Indian state.
Imran Bhatti, Director General of SFA, stated this in a meeting with representatives of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI).
Additionally present were Vice President Muslim Mohammadi, Senior Vice President Nighat Awan, and President KATI Farazur Rehman.
Bhatti stated that the Sindh Food Authority was dedicated to making sure that the population have access to unadulterated food items and that the collaboration of all pertinent stakeholders will be sought to accomplish this.
He told the vendors that the they intend to automate the food licensing procedure to accelerate the process and hinted that the SFA would pursue legal action against vendors selling food without a license.
All restaurants, dairy shops, manufacturers, ice factories, marriage halls, cold storages and hotels have been advised to get their business licenses as soon as possible.
The SFA has devised the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for multiple kinds of foo-related businesses including, hotels, restaurants, dairy shops etc.
In order to educate operators of food businesses on food safety, pertinent laws, and standards, the DG announced that awareness seminars will be organized in collaboration with business organizations.
He emphasized that it was a collective duty to uphold the standards of hygiene and contribute significantly to the creation of a healthy society.
Veggies declared safe
In other similar news, India’s Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has declared all sampled vegetables free of arsenic, coliform and Escherichia coli bacteria after an analysis which tested the vegetables’ quality.
Food safety teams had gathered 148 vegetable samples and sent them to the PFA laboratory for testing on the directives of PFA Director General Mudassar Riaz Malik after destroying vegetables cultivated from industrial waste during a routine inspection drive last month.
According to him, samples of veggies were collected from restaurants, grocery stores, and markets around the province.
All samples were examined at the PFA laboratory in accordance with international standards, and no chemicals, heavy metals, or germs were discovered in the vegetables.
The DG stated that while some vegetable samples failed owing to being stale, the remaining samples passed all laboratory chemical tests.
He urged netizens to be vigilant in reporting such cases to the Authority.
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