Experts speak up on reliable listeria foods

THE listeria outbreak currently rocking the country has left many people worrying over what foods to consume and what to stay away from.

The Saturday Dispatch talked to two food and environmental experts to shed more light on the disease.

Professor of Food Sciences at Stellenbosch University, Pieter Gouws, said the listeria outbreak was not a new phenomenon.

“Listeria is the bacteria that causes the disease called listeriosis. Listeriosis occurs worldwide, with the first documented outbreak of the foodborne disease recorded in 1979 in Boston.”

Gouws said further outbreaks occurred in the world during subsequent years, and were often associated with a particular food type. “It was vegetable products in the early 1980s, dairy products in the mid-80s and early 90s, ready-to-eat meat and poultry products in the late 90s and early 2000s. Since 2010, it’s commonly been fresh produce.”

He said South Africa was not the only country experiencing the listeria outbreak, with Europe experiencing a multicountry outbreak since 2015. He added that the origins of the disease were difficult to trace. “The predominant mode of transmission is by ingestion of contaminated food. It can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth,” he said.

The department of health earlier this week released a statement saying that listeria had been identified in raw and sour milk in BCM.

Chief director of veterinary services at the department of rural development and agrarian reform, Dr Lubabalo Mrwebi, said that dairy products that test positive for listeria indicated that the products have the potential to cause listeriosis.

“Bacteria that cause listeriosis are part of the normal flora of animals. The positive samples will help to trace the origins of the bacteria. It is for this reason that people are always advised to avoid raw vegetables, fruit, and uncooked animal products,” he said.

Mrwebi said members of the public are advised to follow the advisories that are being regularly given out by the Department of Health. “These include, but are not limited to, washing hands before and often during food preparation; separating raw meat (including poultry and seafood) from other foods; cooking food thoroughly and to immediately bring to the attention of health-care givers any suspected cases of listeriosis.” —