In a surprising revelation, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority said that almost 40% of bottled water samples taken throughout the province were unsuitable and unfit for human consumption. The results emerged after the completion of the very first bottle for bottled tests on the scale of the province of Authority.
According to the official report, a total of 156 water samples in the bottle of variable sizes, 19 liters, 1.5 liters, 500 ml and 300 ml, were tested at the new laboratory of newly established provincial food tests and in the research center. Among these, 59.61% were deemed satisfactory, while 40.39% failed to respond to the quality benchmarks set by Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority.
Director General of Food Security and Halal Food Authority, Wasif Saeed, informed the provincial Minister of Food Zahir Shah Toru on the results of the campaign. He also revealed that 56 water source samples were also examined, with 27 passing the quality test and 29 declared lower quality.
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The report highlighted serious concerns, revealing that 61 bottled water samples contained dangerous microbial contamination, including coliforms, fecal coliforms, E. coli and pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, two samples contained harmful chemical components. The two conclusions, the DG, warned, presented serious risk to public health.
The data has also shown that the 143 KP active water factories collectively produce an average of 419,000 liters of bottled water per day. Alarming, more than 117,000 liters of this production turned out to be below the test period, which took place from August 23 to September 19.
In the next phase, the authority will expand its campaign to test water filtration factories and residential water sources throughout the province to protect public consumption.
The CEO informed the minister that heavy fines had been imposed on companies whose samples proved to be unfit. The authority has also issued recall guidelines to seize and reject lower quality market actions. In addition, production in the incriminated factories has been suspended until the adoption of corrective measures and that fresh samples have eliminated quality tests.
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Toru welcomed the conclusions of the campaign, describing them as an important step in the protection of consumer rights. He pointed out that, for the first time, KP had launched such a complete test campaign thanks to the creation of the provincial food test laboratory.
“On the directives of chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, we have launched large-scale testing of food and drinks to increase production standards and ensure compliance,” he said.
Strining a severe action against offenders, the minister added: “We will eliminate foods of lower and dangerous quality and ensure quality food throughout the province. By ensuring safe food, we will finally empty hospitals. ”
He also assured that the government was setting up a robust food test regime not only to protect public health, but also to support legitimate businesses in improving their products in accordance with national and international standards.
