Tiger Brands may never know how deadly listeriosis strain entered its factory
Tiger Brands may never know how a strain of bacteria linked by the government to the world’s deadliest outbreak of listeriosis entered its South African factory. Africa’s largest listed packaged-food maker has spent the past three months testing and cleaning the Enterprise processed-meat plant in Polokwane that was identified by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi as the source of the deadly crisis. More than 200 people in the country have died from listeriosis since the start of 2017. Tiger is also working on changes to bolster safety and reduce risks before restarting the plant and a second shuttered facility. However, it still has not found the origin of the ST6 strain, which has been tied to the outbreak. "We’re probably close to the end now, we’ve checked our suppliers, we’ve checked all the things we could," CEO Lawrence MacDougall said in an interview at Tiger Brand’s Johannesburg headquarters. "It’s probably not going to be determined." Tiger, which recalled more than 4,000 met...
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