Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has sealed a factory that was producing fake carbonated drinks of different popular brands. During a raid in Korol Pind on Sunday, the authority discarded 2,026 liters of spurious drinks.
Acting on a tip-off, the food safety team, under the supervision of its Director-General Irfan Memon, conducted a raid and caught the culprits red-handed. PFA confiscated 10,000 fake bottle lids, 620 empty bottles, six gas cylinders, filling machine, mixing machine, chemicals, loose colors and a huge quantity of fake labels.
During the raid, PFA also disposed of 5,000 liters fake drinks base, 870 liters Coca Cola, 652 liters 7-Up, 285 liters Dew, 130 liters Mirinda and 89 liters Sprite. The authority has registered a case against the accused on account of adulteration and forgery in the respective police station.
The director-general said that fake drinks are being manufactured using artificial sweeteners, saccharine, chemicals, loose colors and contaminated tap water.
Only sealing the factory without giving them physical punishment means encouraging the crime. In China they would have been executed promptly.
You couldn’t be more wrong there. China is the same land where they make oil from gutter waste. Don’t believe me? Google “gutter oil” and get back to me. Also the same land where they were slaughtering and selling so many disgusting animals together that it gave birth to Coronavirus.
and I’m talking about cooking oil, not motor oil. They sell it to unsuspecting people as cooking oil.
Even if that be so, should we be lenient with our criminals?
The important issue is how dare the counterfeit brands existed, operated, marketed, sold. Where were the respective authorities, regulators, the FBR, the Cyber Crime Authority, the Health Department/Ministry, the Environmental Ministry, the buyers, shops outlets which purchased the merchandise. Were they all tax filers. How dare this great idea of prosperity/wellness to the entrepreneural assets? What is their history of entrepreneural spirits? They should be investigated in detail, cross examined thoroughly with their supporters, patrons, customers, individuals, logistical partners, warehousing of the merchandise, storage conditions all are big question marks? How and who discovered? Accidental, or the respective department/authority?
This will be a start of legitimacy in food.