GILGIT: The supply of substandard and low-quality edibles to Gilgit-Baltistan is a source of an increase in cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases in the region, experts said, pointing out lax regulatory measures to ensure the quality of food products transported from other parts of the country.

The region has no food industry and its residents depend on other parts of the country for food products. However, it is not sure whether these products are being supplied to the region by licenced companies or counterfeit companies who might be using the logo of licenced companies.

Ejaz Ayub, a cardiologist, told Dawn the situation in remote areas was deteriorating as shady companies without any inspections were sending food products, cooking oil, biscuits, chips and other edible items to regional markets without any oversight.

Dr Bahadur Shah, president of the GB Young Doctors Association, told Dawn that the influx of substandard food items in GB posed risks to the lives of residents.

Official says GB has no food authority while other testing facilities are time-intensive. Doctors say products being supplied to mountainous region are causing cancer and heart diseases

He said due to insufficient health facilities, diseases such as cancer and diabetes had the highest ratio in the region.

Medical experts told Dawn that the ratio of gastrointestinal cancer and heart patients was higher in GB compared to other cities of the country. They, however, said there was no specific study regarding the exact number of such patients, but some doctors have conducted their research to determine the exact figure.

According to Dr Arif, stroke cases are reported mostly due to the consumption of substandard products in the region. Dr Waseem Abbas said substandard food items affect the immune system and blamed “aged buffalos and boiler chickens” being supplied to GB for a spike in such diseases. Dr Ehsan said low-quality food products created nutrition deficiency and also linked it to stunting in children.

It may be noted that the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan also depend on subsidised wheat supplied by the federal government. However, the civil society members and elected members of the GB Assembly have protested against the quality of this wheat, raising questions about its quality. GB assembly member Nawaz Khan Naji had once alleged that expired wheat was being supplied to the region.

When contacted, a food department official told Dawn that quality assurance guidelines issued by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) were being implemented in GB. He said food items were being checked regularly for their expiry date but lab tests were needed to examine the quality of ingredients used in edible items.

The official said there was only one drug and food testing laboratory in GB’s health department but it was charging Rs1300 per sample and the process was time-intensive.

He also said the GB food department had no budget to pay for tests of the food samples.

“We cannot determine the quality of food items unless tested through a lab, which seems an expensive exercise and a single lab cannot cater to the testing requirement of the entire region, which is geographically scattered and markets are unorganised…” said the official.

It may be noted Gilgit-Baltistan enacted the GB Food Act in 2021, which also recommended a food authority to ensure the quality of food. However, this authority for oversight of food products has not been established.

On the other hand, civil society members have sought an immediate halt to the circulation of harmful food products due to their adverse health risks.

They said organic food, vegetables, and fruits are the best solution to avoid such risks, adding the government should encourage the local population to own food, vegetables, and fruit production to become self-sufficient.

GB has huge barren land that can easily be irrigated to increase crop production through a number of agricultural initiatives.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2025