South African food giant Tiger Brands said on Monday it was immediately recalling its Enterprise ready-to-eat chilled processed meat product range after the health minister identified it over the weekend as the source of a deadly listeriosis outbreak.
"We have contacted all our customers to confirm that the recalled products are removed from their store shelves and will continue to work with authorities to ensure an effective and speedy recall," the company said.
"Additionally, we have suspended operations at both Enterprise manufacturing facilities (Polokwane and Germiston) and have halted supply to trade."
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said on Sunday processed food manufacturers Enterprise, a division of Tiger Brands, and Rainbow Chicken Limited had been issued with safety recall notices following the listeriosis outbreak.
The Enterprise food production facility in Polokwane in Limpopo had been identified as the source of the current listeriosis outbreak, he said.
As of March 2, the total number of laboratory-confirmed listeriosis cases has risen to 948 since January 2017. Of those, 659 patients have been traced and 180 of them have died - a 27 percent fatality rate.
Retailers Pick n Pay and Shoprite said they had withdrawn all listeriosis-linked food from their shelves.
Tiger Brand said it was undertaking enhanced deep cleaning protocols, including oxy-acid dosing units fitted to the rotary coolers to provide a bacterium kill in cooling water and Increased sanitisation of packing tables.
The company said it had, since the confirmed outbreak of listeriosis by the department of health in December 2017, proactively amplified its testing of raw materials and finished goods and introduced additional hygiene monitoring of processes, equipment, storage and waste areas at its facilities.
Although its testing had detected listeria at low levels, in a batch of one product on 14 February 2018, the presence of the ST6 strain had not been confirmed by the company's tests.
"The relevant samples have been sent to an external laboratory for the identification of the strain, and results are expected back on 5 March 2018," Tiger Brands said.
- African News Agency (ANA)
