Lahore: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Tuesday recovered 3,000 kilograms of expired and fungus-infected ice cream during an operation at Shahdara on the orders of Punjab Chief Minister(CM),Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
Special Assistant to the Chief Minister,Salma Butt and Director General(DG) Punjab Food Authority(PFA),Raja Mansoor Ahmed led the operation against the distribution facility of a well-known multinational ice cream brand.
The authority suspended the brand’s distribution operations and imposed a fine of Rs.1 million on the distributor. A large quantity of the unfit ice cream recovered from Four Star Distribution was subsequently destroyed.
PFA DG,Raja Mansoor Ahmed said that the expired stock was found stored at a temperature of minus 22 degrees Celsius alongside fresh stock.
He said the seized ice cream had expired in November last year.
Despite a separate section being allocated for defective products,the expired and fungus-infected ice cream was found stored in the main warehouse,he added.
According to the DG,the substandard expired ice cream was intended to be supplied to different cities along with fresh stock,posing a serious risk to consumers, particularly children.
Raja Mansoor Ahmed said the Punjab Food Authority was continuing enforcement under a zero-tolerance policy against elements playing with public health.
