LAHORE - The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Tuesday launched its open market sampling test campaign by collecting butter, desi ghee and cheese samples from open market for examining product quality and fortification.

Samples will be sent to ISOs and Pakistan Certified Council’s certified laboratories for test. The PFA will not only remove products from market but also seal production units/companies not meeting standards. The PFA had sealed seven production units of desi ghee in the province last week -- two in Lahore and one each in five other districts -- after receiving complaints from consumers about sale of fake and substandard products.

Separately, a certificate distribution ceremony was held for the first batch of Punjab Food Authority’s food safety officers on completion of Food Safety Level 3 Training workshop.

Director General of PFA Noor ul Amin Mengal participated as a Chief Guest and distributed certificates to 35 successful Food Safety Officers (FSOs). The training workshop was arranged by the Punjab Food Authority in collaboration with the Nutritional International (certified with American Food Safety Board) and IMAX International. Speaking on the occasion, Mengal said that purpose of this training was to build capacity and skills of food safety teams. He said that well-trained trainers had trained all officers.