PESHAWAR – The Gilgit-Baltistan government’s Food Department has imposed an immediate ban on the sale, purchase, storage, transportation, supply and consumption of seven vanaspati ghee and edible oil products, declaring them unsafe for human consumption on the basis of laboratory reports.According to an emergency order issued on August 27, 2026, government-approved laboratory testing declared Geo Vanaspati, Super Zaman Vanaspati, Diamond Vanaspati, Usman Vanaspati, Maidan Vanaspati, Zarshan Vanaspati Ghee and Adeeba Vanaspati unsafe for human consumption.The order identifies manufacturers associated with these products, including units located in Malakand, Swat and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as an industrial unit in Islamabad.
The GB action has now raised a far more serious question for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and its food safety regulatory machinery:If these products have been declared unsafe for human consumption by an approved government laboratory, how did they pass through the food safety and regulatory system.The silence of the relevant KP authorities is particularly concerning.If manufacturing units operating within KP are producing food products that are subsequently declared unsafe for human consumption, the responsibility cannot simply end with the manufacturer.The provincial regulatory system is equally required to explain what inspections were conducted, what samples were collected, what laboratory tests were performed and what action was taken, if any.The issue goes beyond seven brands.It raises fundamental questions about the effectiveness of the entire food safety monitoring system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.A regulatory system that merely reacts after another province detects potentially unsafe food products cannot be described as an effective preventive food safety mechanism.The primary responsibility of food regulators is to identify risks before unsafe products reach consumers, not after they have entered the market.The KP government therefore owes the public a comprehensive explanation rather than silence.At the same time, it would be premature to conclude solely from the GB notification that these products were illegally manufactured or transported from KP, or that every batch produced by the identified manufacturers is unsafe. Fresh independent sampling, laboratory testing, manufacturing records and supply chain documentation are essential to establish the facts.But that qualification does not absolve the provincial authorities of their regulatory responsibility.
The most disturbing aspect of the matter is that the ultimate victim of a dysfunctional food safety system is not the manufacturer or the regulator, it is the ordinary consumer.A citizen spends hard earned money on food believing that the state has established mechanisms to ensure that what reaches the market is safe for consumption.If a product ultimately turns out to be hazardous, the question is not merely who manufactured it.
The KP government must therefore move beyond silence and initiate a transparent, province wide investigation into the manufacturing, testing, licensing and distribution of the products identified in the GB order.Samples should be collected afresh from manufacturing facilities, warehouses and markets and tested through accredited laboratories.The complete regulatory record of the concerned manufacturers should also be examined, while inter provincial transportation and distribution records should be scrutinised to determine how and where the products entered the market.
This is not simply a dispute between food manufacturers and regulatory authorities.It is a public health issue.Every day of regulatory inaction potentially exposes consumers to products whose safety has been questioned by a government authority.
The KP government cannot remain a silent spectator while serious questions are being raised about food products manufactured within its jurisdiction.If its food safety system is functioning, it must demonstrate that through records, inspections, laboratory results and enforcement actions.If it is not functioning, those responsible for the regulatory failure must be held accountable.Public money is not meant to buy disease.Citizens have the right to safe food, and no manufacturer, regulator or government institution should be allowed to compromise human health in the name of business, negligence or administrative silence.
Regarding the report, The Daily Newsman contacted senior officers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa food authorities to obtain their official position on recent reports concerning certain brands of ghee and edible oil reportedly declared unsafe in Gilgit Baltistan.
Senior KP Food authority said that reports of unsafe ghee and edible oil are being treated as a serious public health concern.However, regulatory action against any specific manufacturing unit requires verified laboratory reports, batch details, sampling information and traceability records.
They clarified that declaring one sample or batch unsafe does not automatically mean that every batch of the same brand is unsafe.The authority said that upon receiving formally verified information regarding products allegedly manufactured in KP, the KP Food Safety & Halal Food Authority will verify the concerned units, conduct fresh sampling and testing, and take appropriate action under the law where required.
