Get Food Tested at a Punjab Food Authority Lab: Milk Is Free, Other Home Samples Rs 1,000

Short answer: The Punjab Food Authority tests household milk free of cost, with 200 ml of milk and a result in about 10 minutes. Any other household food sample costs Rs 1,000. You pay by challan, then hand the sample to the lab front desk on a weekday between 9am and 5pm.

You bought a tin of ghee that smells wrong. Or a litre of milk that tastes thin. Most people throw it away or argue with the shopkeeper. Punjab has a better option: the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) runs public food laboratories that any citizen can use.

We read the PFA's Food Testing Service page on 13 October 2026. Every fee and timing below comes from that page. We did not send a sample ourselves, so the turnaround times are the ones PFA publishes, not ones we timed.

Milk for home use is tested free in 10 minutes

PFA tests a household milk sample at no charge. You bring 200 ml of milk to the front desk of the District Food Laboratory in Lahore and get the result in about 10 minutes. The service runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

This is the fastest route to find out whether milk has been diluted or adulterated. Adulteration means something has been added to the food that should not be there, such as water or starch.

1. Pour 200 ml of the milk into a clean, closed container.
2. Take it to the front desk of the District Food Laboratory, 84-C New Muslim Town, near Naqsha Stop, Wahdat Road, Lahore.
3. Go between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
4. Wait for the result. PFA says it takes about 10 minutes.

Other household food samples cost Rs 1,000

For anything other than milk, PFA charges Rs 1,000 for a private household or domestic sample. Government bodies pay Rs 3,000. Food businesses pay commercial rates from a rate list on the PFA website, which we could not open as a fixed table.

Test time for non-milk samples is not one number. PFA says it ranges from a few hours to a few days, depending on the food and the checks needed.

A private sample needs a challan before you hand it over

For a paid test, you apply online at the PFA cell portal or at the front desk of any food laboratory. You pay the fee first, then submit the sample. PFA says the challan can be paid at any Allied Bank branch or through Easypaisa.

The order matters. The lab takes the sample at the front desk only after the fee is submitted. If you walk in with a sample and no paid challan, expect to be sent back to pay first.

Keep the paid challan and the lab receipt together. If the sample came from a shop, keep the shop receipt as well. A lab result is much easier to use in a complaint when it sits beside the purchase receipt. The steps for that complaint are in the guide to the PFA complaint helpline 1223.

Three public lab addresses are listed on the page

PFA lists three stationary laboratories where the public can submit samples: two in Lahore and one in Multan. Each takes samples Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. Weekend submission is not available, according to the page.

The same page also says nine stationary laboratories work in Punjab and that mobile laboratories operate in Lahore, Multan, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. Its own FAQ, though, says three stationary laboratories are working at present. We could not reconcile the two statements, so we only give the three addresses it lists. Call before you travel from another city.

PFA tests ten groups of food

The page lists ten commodity groups: water, fats and oils, sweets and confectionery, drinks and beverages, dairy products, cereals and spices, snacks and bakery items, fruit and vegetable products, eggs, and colours and dyes.

That covers most things a household buys. Cooking oil, spices and sweets are the usual suspects. The lab checks for adulteration and contamination, in line with Article 21 of the PFA Act 2011, which the page cites as the basis for its labs since May 2012.

A lab result is not a licence check. If the food came from a restaurant or a shop you want to report, the steps are in the guides to reporting unsafe food in Punjab and to the PFA food licence the seller should hold.

Common questions

Is the milk test really free?

Yes, for household or domestic milk. PFA's FAQ says milk testing is free for home use. You need 200 ml and the result takes about 10 minutes.

How much does it cost to test other food at home use?

It costs Rs 1,000 for a private household or domestic sample other than milk. Government organisations pay Rs 3,000, and businesses pay commercial rates.

How do I pay the fee?

You submit the fee through a challan at any Allied Bank branch or through Easypaisa, then hand the sample to the lab front desk. PFA's page does not give a bank account number, so use the challan from the portal.

Can I submit a sample on Saturday or Sunday?

No. PFA says the food laboratories take samples from the public and businesses Monday to Friday only, 9am to 5pm.

How long do results take for foods other than milk?

It varies from a few hours to a few days. PFA does not publish a fixed time for each food type.

Can I apply online?

Yes. PFA says a private sample can be applied for at its online cell portal, or at the front desk of any food laboratory. Pay the fee before you submit the sample.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 13 October 2026, Pakistan time. We read the Punjab Food Authority's Food Testing Service page, including its procedure, fee answers and lab addresses. We did not send a sample or visit a lab. The page gives two different counts of stationary laboratories, and it points to a commercial rate list for businesses that we did not read.