Tiger Brands hit by listeriosis outbreak
The killer bacterium has been traced to an Enterprise meat factory in Polokwane as the death toll reaches 180
Tiger Brands, SA’s biggest consumer foods company, was reeling on Sunday with the source of a listeriosis outbreak traced to its Enterprise meat factory in Polokwane, amid accusations that it had not followed proper food-safety procedures. Altogether 180 people have died, with almost 1,000 cases confirmed since listeriosis was first detected in January 2017. The discovery was announced by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Sunday. Tiger Brands was informed earlier in the day. The finding has triggered a large recall of all Enterprise ready-to-eat cold meat products as well as polony products produced by RCL, after an unidentified strain of listeriosis was found at its Free State factory. Dr Juno Thomas, head of the Centre for Enteric Diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, said that the “food-safety programme in place [at the Enterprise Polokwane factory] is insufficient for the type of risk posed by the type of food they produce. They do a little testing but ...
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