40% of bottled water declared substandard & Hazardous in Sampling & Testing -

OUR CORRESPONDENT PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur directs Food Testing across all items in the food supply chain owing to establishment & operationalisation of Provincial Food Testing Lab. Government Vows to root out adulteration, says Zahir Shah Toru The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority found 40% of bottled water samples collected across the province as substandard and unfit for human consumption, following the completion of its first province-wide bottled water testing campaign. According to the report, a total of 156 bottled water samples of 19-litre, 1.5-litre, 500ml and 300ml sizes were tested at the newly established Provincial Food Testing Laboratory and Centre for Research. The findings showed that 59.61% samples were satisfactory, while 40.39% failed to meet the required standards as per PSQCA. Director General Food Safety and Halal Food Authority Wasif Saeed, briefed Provincial Food Minister Zahir Shah Toru on the campaign results. He informed that 56 water source samples were also examined, of which 27 were found satisfactory and 29 substandard. The report revealed that 61 bottled water samples contained dangerous microbial contamination such as Coliform, Fecal Coliform, E.Coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while two samples showed the presence of harmful chemical components. Both findings pose serious risks to human health, the minister was told. It was further informed that the province’s 143 active water Industries/ plants collectively produce an average of 419,000 litres of bottled water daily, of which 117,543 litres were found substandard. The water Sampling & testing campaign continued from August 23 to September 19. Furthermore in Phase 2 , the Authority will test samples water filtration plants as well as water sources in residential areas across the province used for public consumption . Minister Food was told by the DG that heavy fines had been imposed on the industries whose samples were found to be substandard. While the Food Authority issued Recall directives to the sieze and discard the substandard stock from the market. Furthermore production of failed samples from respective industry was put to a halt till the corrective measures as proposed by the Food Authority were complied with and samples had met the required standards after testing . Zahir Shah remarked that for the first time, the province had launched largescale testing campaigns owing the establishment of the Provincial Food Testing Laboratory and Centre for Research. “On the directives of the Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, the authority has initiated testing drives of various food products with the objective of improving the standards of production units and industries”. Vowing strict action, the minister stated:“We will eliminate substandard and hazardous food items and ensure quality food across the province. By ensuring safe food, we will ultimately empty the hospitals.”