Punjab Food Authority to Ban Styrofoam Cups and Plates

The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has proposed a new law after which the use of such unhygienic material for food packaging will be banned. A scientific panel conducted a study and found that use of disposable styrofoam cups and plates is unsafe.

The panel concluded that the use of styrofoam cups and plates can cause cancer as well.

Packaging Material Regulation, 2018

Once the Packaging Material Regulation law gets passed, the sale of food in non-food grade material will be banned across Punjab.

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The law provides following guidelines;

• 90-liter water bottles must be recycled after every 40th use.
• Only three-layer plastic bags are to be used for packaging of ghee and oil products.
• Use of single-layered styrofoam, newspapers, and crappy paper will be banned for food packaging.
• Non-absorbent ink will be used for printing on plastic and other packaging material.
• Glue used for the adhesive purpose on packaging material shall be made with only Halal animal sources.

The practice of selling edible products wrapped in newspapers is pretty common across the country. Once the law is implemented, any such practice will be prohibited and the culprits will be dealt a hard hand.

The law will be promulgated at the upcoming board meeting of PFA.

Training schools for industry workers have been established in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Mulan. Director General PFA has directed the industry owners to get their workers qualified from these schools before October 15.