Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has taken a significant step towards ensuring the provision of safe and healthy food to the public by inaugurating five state-of-the-art mobile food testing laboratories. The opening ceremony was held at the Chief Minister’s House, with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur as the chief guest.
The mobile food testing labs will provide free food testing services to residents in densely populated districts, focusing on ensuring the quality of essential food items. These laboratories are equipped with the latest testing equipment, including Milk Analyzers, Arsenic Test Kits for water, Refractometers, Moisture Analyzers, PH Meters, and TDS Meters.
With an investment of approximately 90 million rupees, the mobile labs will offer free testing for 24 food items, including milk, water, spices, tea, salt, honey, ice cream, and juices. The labs are capable of performing quick tests and providing immediate results through thermal printers. The results are also shared with authorities through an online dashboard in real time.
The initiative is part of the Chief Minister’s 99-point public agenda aimed at eliminating food adulteration and ensuring the availability of safe and clean food. The government has committed to expanding the reach of these mobile laboratories to all districts by June next year, and further extending their coverage to tehsils in the following phase.
In his address at the opening ceremony, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also announced plans to regularize the contract employees of the Halal Food Authority. He stressed the importance of combating food adulteration and emphasized that strict measures must be taken to address this serious issue.
“Unfortunately, despite being Muslims, we are engaging in food adulteration, which goes against Islamic teachings,” Gandapur said. He called on citizens to adhere strictly to Islamic principles and emphasized the provincial government’s commitment to providing clean, healthy, and adulteration-free food.
The Chief Minister also praised the performance of the Halal Food Authority and announced plans to further enhance its capabilities to improve food safety standards in the province. The addition of five new mobile food testing labs will significantly strengthen the food safety regime in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“These labs will ensure that people have access to safe food, without unnecessary harassment, and will be a crucial step toward better food safety practices,” he added.
