The Sindh Food Authority (SFA) has mandated a private company to recall 11 of its packaged snack products from the market immediately following laboratory tests that deemed them “unfit” for consumption, as announced on Monday.
SFA Director General Muzamil Hussain Halepoto stated, “The products Slanty Vegetable, Snackers Hot Masala, Snackers Pizza, Twitch Classic, Potato Sticks, Cheese Ball Masala, Cheese Balls Cheese, Kai Korean Hot, Kai Spicy Mala, Kai Mala Wok, and Kai Korean Kimchi have all been found unfit for human consumption.”
Halepoto directed the company to withdraw the products within three days, cautioning that legal actions would ensue if the company failed to comply. Additionally, he urged other provincial food authorities to conduct similar investigations to protect public health.
Approximately two and a half months prior, the company had submitted 24 products for registration. Samples were sent to the Food Testing Laboratory at the University of Karachi’s Department of Food Science and Technology, where 11 products failed to meet the required safety standards.
In a letter addressed to the company on Monday, the SFA chief explained that the application for product registration was made on March 6, with samples provided for lab testing, inspection, and a food safety audit. The examination results dated April 19 indicated that the products did not meet the minimum safety and quality standards, posing significant health risks to the public and violating laws and regulations.
As a result, the SFA chief has ordered a “full food recall” of the products under relevant sections of the Sindh Food Authority Act 2016, invoking Section 24 to prevent any public health crisis. The company must “immediately withdraw the affected products from the market, cease production and sale, and provide detailed information on the stock’s location and quantity to the SFA within three days.”
The directive also allows the company the opportunity to appeal. “If the company feels aggrieved by this order, it may seek a remedy by appealing to the SFA Board within one week,” the letter added. The SFA reserves the right to initiate further proceedings, including penal actions and criminal legal proceedings under the Pakistan Penal Code, for any violations and offenses committed under the said Act.
