Crackdown on ‘chemical ketchup’

LAHORE – The Punjab Food Authority on Sunday carried out a raid at a ketchup factory – Punjab Foods Products – and disposed off 8,000 liters substandard ketchup at Madinah Park near Ruhi Nullah.

The factory, which was operational since 2010, was operating under unhygienic conditions. During the raid, the PFA team found out that the most essential item of the ketchup – Tomato – was not being used for the preparation but the chemicals and starch.

An FIR was lodged against the factory owner and he was arrested from the spot. The PFA teams also disposed off all the substandard ketchup on the spot.

Ketchup is an essential item used with fries, pizza, beans on toast, sausage sandwiches, and is served at almost every food outlset in the city of foodies, Lahore.

During last few years, few factories in Lahore were sealed over the usage of the rotten tomatoes to make ketchup but the Ketchup Production Unit that was sealed on Sunday was using chemical only.

PFA Director (Operations) Rafia Haider said that PFA teams raided the Ketchup Production Cell factory on information of vigilance cell. The sample test of Ketchup was unsatisfactory as per reports and on the initial information of vigilance cell the factory was traced and sealed, the official added.

The Ketchup production unit was involved in also labeling different brands names on substandard ketchup packets, she told the media.

She vowed to continue the crackdown against the mafia that has been playing with the lives of citizens to make profit.

Source: The Nation