PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Hilal food Authority in an in Mardan seized more than 7,000 liters of counterfeit and unhealthy juice.
The authority said that harmful chemicals were used in the preparation of juice and were distributed throughout the province. “The juice was prepared for the sale of children, which was packaged in packets of Rs5 and Rs10 and supplied to the market across the province,” said a statement issued by the authority on Wednesday.
Read more:
KP food authority issues guidelines for slaughters houses
KP food authority recovers 600kg unhealthy spices
According to Director General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety Authority Shah Rukh Ali Khan operations against counterfeit drinks, substandard spices and other unhealthy food items were intensified across the province. Khan said fake and unhealthy juice was being prepared by mixing unhealthy chemicals in the water. He said that during the inspection, the hygiene condition of the unit was found to be “very poor”. He said that machines along with large quantity of packing material wer also confiscated from the unit.
According to the Food Safety Authority, the juice was supplied small markets and kept in retail shops for sale to children.
On 14 March, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Hilal food Authority on Monday claimed to have recovered over 6000 kg of unhealthy spices from different parts of the city. The authority said that bran and rice straw were being mixed with other unhealthy ingredients for manufacturing spices and were supplied to markets across the province ahead of Ramazan. The authority alleged that various unhealthy dyes were also recovered during the operation.
During the operation, three spice manufacturing units were sealed were sealed on Charsadda road. According to the Food Safety Authority, substandard edible oil used in manufacturing spices was also recovered and confiscated.
The Authority added that counterfeit spices were being prepared in the sealed units before Ramazan, when the demands of spices and other commodities increased in the market. Unhealthy spices were supplied from the spice units throughout the province, including Peshawar.