Balochistan Food Authority Fines 21 Food Businesses, Seals Two Units in Province-Wide Crackdown

QUETTA: The Balochistan Food Authority (BFA) has intensified its crackdown against unsafe, substandard, and adulterated food products, inspecting food businesses in Quetta, Harnai, Dera Allah Yar, and Hub. During the province-wide operation, 21 food establishments were fined, 29 food business operators were issued improvement notices, and two food production units were sealed for violating food safety regulations.

According to the BFA, inspection teams visited bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants, sweets and kulfi manufacturing units, water purification plants, beef shops, ice factories, pickle shops, and other food businesses in various areas of Quetta, including Spini Road, Airport Road, Nawan Killi, Ghausabad, Sariab Road, Millennium Mall, Chohar Mill Street, Machine Road, and the Western Bypass.

A snacks manufacturing unit was sealed for using non-food-grade coloring, producing and packaging unregistered products, misleading labeling, poor hygiene standards, and unhygienic working conditions. A water purification plant was also sealed for multiple violations of the Balochistan Food Authority Act, 2014, including poor sanitation and failure to meet legal requirements.

In a separate action, the food business license and packaging machine of a kulfi manufacturing unit were confiscated after inspectors found unregistered products, poor hygiene conditions, and violations of food safety regulations.

Inspectors also imposed fines on several businesses for poor cleanliness, unhygienic staff practices, the use of contaminated and rusted machinery, dirty water storage tanks, inadequate drainage systems, the absence of water testing reports, the sale of expired spices, chocolates, sauces, edible oil, and other food products, operating without a valid food business license, and improper food storage.

During milk quality inspections on Sabzal Road, samples collected from milk shops were tested on-site. Authorities found water adulteration in the milk sold by three vendors, who were subsequently fined, while 10 liters of adulterated milk were destroyed. Four additional milk shops were issued improvement notices for minor violations.

In Harnai, food safety teams inspected grocery stores, bakeries, and other food outlets on Quetta Road, issuing fines to eight businesses and improvement notices to five others. Expired tea, spices, biscuits, ketchup, cakes, chips, traditional sweets, and other food items were seized. Authorities also took legal action against shops found storing fertilizer alongside food products.

Meanwhile, in Hub, inspections of water purification plants and other food businesses on the main highway resulted in fines for two water purification plants over sanitation, drainage, and standard operating procedure (SOP) violations, while six food business operators were issued improvement notices.

Food safety teams also inspected food business units in Dera Allah Yar, directing operators to ensure full compliance with food safety laws and regulations.