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In yet another grim revelation that underscores Pakistan's chronic failure to ensure public health and safety, Dawn News has reported that nearly every tea shop in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city is serving up a toxic brew of adulterated milk and chemically-laced tea leaves.
The findings, released by the Sindh Food Authority (SFA), paint a horrifying picture of the everyday reality in the so-called "commercial hub" of Pakistan. According to Dawn, a recent inspection of 127 tea stalls and shops across Karachi revealed that 100 per cent of the tea leaves and 90 per cent of the milk samples were contaminated with harmful and unauthorised substances. In a country already grappling with rampant inflation, lawlessness, and institutional decay, this latest health scandal shows that even a basic cup of tea, a national staple, is unsafe in Pakistan. The SFA's findings, detailed in Dawn's comprehensive report, state that the milk samples were laced with detergents, carbonates, salt, sugar, skimmed milk, and added water, all of which pose serious health risks. Shockingly, some milk was found to contain multiple harmful chemicals simultaneously. Karachi, often touted as Pakistan's "economic engine," appears more accurately to be a cesspool of unchecked food adulteration, where public safety is routinely sacrificed for profit. According to reports, The SFA, in collaboration with the University of Karachi, found that all 110 tea leaf samples collected from tea stalls across the city were tainted with polyphenols -- a cheap, plant-based substance used by unethical manufacturers to stretch product and cut costs. This disturbing revelation exposes the grim state of governance and regulatory collapse in Pakistan, where public health remains an afterthought. While millions consume these toxic brews daily, authorities have consistently failed to implement meaningful reforms. Last year, the Sindh Food Authority had conducted a raid on at a factory located in Karachi's Bhains Colony, where it was discovered that chemicals were being mixed with water to manufacture milk. According to media reports, the factory had been producing approximately 9,000 liters of milk using 750 kilograms of chemicals. (ANI)
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