Ensuring safe, high-quality nutritious products termed challenge
ISLAMABAD: A senior representative of a leading dairy company Thursday disclosed that Pakistan’s nutrition challenge is to ensure nutritious products remain safe and high-quality while reaching consumers efficiently and affordably. Noor Aftab, Director, Corporate Affairs for Pakistan, Middle East, North and West Africa at Tetra Pak made these remarks during a recent two-day dialogue concluded…
Islamabad witnessed a two-day dialogue on Thursday that addressed Pakistan's critical nutrition challenge. The main concern lies in ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality, and nutritious products to consumers at an affordable price, as stated by Noor Aftab, a senior representative from Tetra Pak. His remarks came during a discussion that included global development leaders, policymakers, and private sector stakeholders.
Pakistan faced an escalating crisis of child stunting and malnutrition. Tetra Pak emphasized that the country's nutrition challenge extends beyond mere food availability. Strengthening food processing, packaging, storage, and distribution can attract more investment across the food value chain, given the right policies. Aftab urged for comprehensive reforms in food-safety laws and taxation to address this crisis.
He stressed the need for structural changes in food-safety legislation to support the production and distribution of safe, scalable, and processed nutritional products. Aftab highlighted that food safety is a critical middle component of the food system, responsible for ensuring that food reaches consumers safely. He pointed out that even if a product is rich in nutrition, it may not be safe to consume if it fails to meet food safety standards.
Dairy sector, with its vast potential, was identified as one of the key areas to translate these principles into broader economic and nutritional gains. As one of the largest milk producers globally, Pakistan has the potential to support farmer incomes, food security, industrial development, and future exports. Aftab also emphasized the importance of productivity improvement at the farm level to develop a stronger and more competitive dairy industry.
Pakistan's average milk yields remain considerably below those achieved in leading dairy markets, presenting an opportunity to improve productivity while strengthening the economics of dairy farming. Higher productivity, combined with stronger food safety systems, could significantly expand the economic potential of Pakistan's dairy industry.
The dialogue also highlighted school feeding programmes, which Tetra Pak has been involved with globally since 1962. Millions of children have received milk and fortified beverages in Tetra Pak packages across countries, demonstrating the wider benefits of nutrition interventions when supported by strong food systems and sustained partnerships.
The consensus among the panelists was that solving malnutrition in Pakistan requires addressing supply chain incentives, improving workforce capabilities, and standardizing food safety across the country.
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