Listeriosis a food horror for South Africans

Corporates are to blame for compromised health standards

THE OUTBREAK of listeriosis in South Africa is a food horror according to the SA Food Sovereignty Campaign. They said the corporate-controlled food system was to blame for compromised health standards in South Africa, which had led not only to listeriosis, but also obesity, hunger, malnutrition, child stunting and diabetes.

“The current food horrors like these result when profit is prioritised over all else,” the campaign said.

“When industrial food systems are situated far from the people, consumers are alienated from its processes and kept in the dark about its dangers.”

They added that the private sector, with profit as its main motive, claimed it had solutions to end food crises, but in actual fact, it was perpetuating the very crises that the poor and vulnerable faced daily.

“The South African Food Sovereignty Campaign calls for greater state regulation based on our People’s Food Sovereignty Act. This act calls for the democratic planning of our food system.”

Meanwhile, the ANCYouth League Dullah Omar regional executive committee has called for those factories in Polokwane where the listeriosis bacteria was detected to co-operate with the relevant authorities and not try to shift blame.

”The ANCYL notes the fact that the NICD (National Institute for Communicable Diseases) haven’t found the ST6 strain elsewhere apart from the Enterprise factory in Polokwane.

WHEN INDUSTRIAL FOOD SYSTEMS ARE SITUATED FAR FROM THE PEOPLE, CONSUMERS ARE ALIENATED FROM ITS PROCESSES

“We call upon the NICD to continue probing meat producers in all provinces to prevent the outbreak from spreading to other parts of the country,” spokesperson Winston Erasmus said.

Tiger Brands said that some of its employees were at the facilities undertaking the deep-cleaning process, while other staff had been put on paid leave until the factories reopen.

“Our priority at the moment is on ensuring that the recall is conducted in a manner that is most effective and that the health and safety of our consumers is a priority,” said Tiger Brands spokesperson Andrea Hattingh.