TP Report
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Food Authority is under public scrutiny following a viral video circulating on social media that allegedly shows food samples collected during market inspections being discarded instead of sent for laboratory testing.
The footage has raised serious questions regarding transparency, procedural compliance, and the scientific basis of enforcement actions. Proper food sampling is a regulated legal and scientific process requiring careful collection, sealing, labeling, documented chain of custody, and testing in an accredited laboratory. Discarded samples cannot be considered scientifically verified.
Traders have also raised concerns that laboratory reports are not consistently shared, and enforcement actions are sometimes taken without documented evidence.
Attempts to reach the Deputy Director of Food and the concerned Food Safety Officer at the Islamabad Food Authority for comments were unsuccessful. Any official response will be published in full once received.
The incident has sparked a wider discussion on the need for accountability and transparency in Islamabad’s food safety enforcement system.
