Pakistan spends billion dollar foreign exchange on import of food commodities, which causes the trade deficit to increase. What is imported to note is that most of these food items come under luxury as they are lavish food items. We have no FDA (Food and Drug Authority) to check whether the food items imported are halal or haram. The food items list, recently presented in national assembly, shows nineteen products that are openly sold in the market which contain ingredients like white and red wine, gelatin and E-120 (animal-based food colour). Some of the food items containing chicken have been placed in the list due to doubts about the slaughtering mechanism. The authorities should take steps to ban the import of such food items that contain haram ingredients and regulate the import of only halal goods.
SIDRA TALHA,
Karachi, February 24.