Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has sealed a school canteen for using reused oil, slapped 97 canteens with hefty fines, and issued warning notices for improvement to more than 400 others during a province-wide inspection drive against the school canteens.
Food safety teams inspected 632 school canteens, including 220 in Lahore, 176 in Rawalpindi, and 236 in Multan, on the directives of PFA DG Mudassar Riaz Malik.
According to The News, PFA teams also visited numerous cafeterias and canteens in Lahore Gulberg for inspection under the supervision of its director general. The authority imposed an emergency prohibition order on a school canteen since it was using reused oil and violating the Punjab Pure Food Regulations.
According to Mudassar, PFA has classified the food items being sold in schools into three categories: red, yellow, and green.
In order to protect children’s bones and prevent them from contracting fatal diseases, he said, PFA prohibited coloured snacks, unhealthy cola/carbonated and energy drinks, gutka, betel nuts, and ice-lollies from being sold in school canteens.
