The Sindh Food Authority (SFA) has initiated a province-wide crackdown on food safety violations, targeting areas such as Karachi, Thatta, Hyderabad, and Kotri, an official said on Tuesday.

The crackdown has resulted in fines totalling over Rs800,000 imposed on various establishments for violating food safety and hygiene standards.

Speaking to Dawn.com, Sindh Food Authority (SFA) Director General (DG) Muzammil Halipoto said that he had personally inspected the facilities to ensure compliance.

“A raid in Kotri’s industrial area resulted in a hefty fine of Rs500,000 imposed on an oil company for violating SFA regulations, with the inspection uncovering serious lapses in food safety compliance,” Halipoto said.

The DG SFA said that during a routine check at a prominent university’s cafeteria in Jamshoro, the authority discovered adulterated milk and poor hygiene practices, leading to a fine of Rs50,000 along with directives to address the violations.

Halipoto added that further scrutiny in Kotri’s site area uncovered “appalling sanitary conditions” at a fennel, carom seeds (ajwain), and fenugreek processing factory.

“The factory was fined Rs200,000 and temporarily shut down due to severe violations of SFA’s standard operating procedures (SOPs),” Halipoto said.

He explained that in Hyderabad, the SFA issued notices and instructions to over six hospitals, including the Maaji Hospital, Hashmi Hospital, the Aga Khan Hospital, Jijal Maam Hospital, and Civil Hospital, urging them to improve their cafeteria cleanliness and food quality.

In Karachi, a portion of a private food street on the superhighway was sealed and fined for neglecting cleanliness standards. Additionally, an inspection of a local dairy company led to the collection of samples for laboratory testing to ensure product safety, according to Halipoto.

He further added that Thatta also witnessed a series of raids on multiple ice factories where significant fines were imposed for breaching SFA regulations.

Moreover, in Kotri, six tea hotels were penalised with a total fine of Rs100,000 for using adulterated milk and failing to maintain proper hygiene standards.

DG Halipoto said that the SFA continues its rigorous efforts to enforce food safety standards, aiming to protect public health and ensure compliance across the province.

In June this year, Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput had directed the SFA to recruit technical experts and establish its offices in all districts of the province.

Meanwhile, the authority, in July, ordered a private company to immediately withdraw from the market its 11 packaged snack products after a laboratory declared them “unfit” for people’s consumption.