VAMP products recalled in Listeria precaution measure
ALL products manufactured at VAMP’s Pretoria facility are being recalled by Tiger Brands‚ including the company’s Snax brand‚ as a precautionary measure‚ Tiger Brands said yesterday. Production at the plant will also be suspended.
“This decision was taken as a result of the detection of Listeria monocytogenes at the facility‚ following heightened testing protocols which have been introduced. These results have been sent for whole genome sequencing to determine whether ST6 is present or not at the facility. The results will only become available in due course‚” Tiger Brands said in a statement.
This follows the suspension of operations at its Polokwane and Germiston sites earlier this month. Operations at a fourth site are also affected.
Tiger Brands said: “Given the suspension of operations at the Polokwane and Germiston sites‚ which are the primary recipients of the production of the company’s Clayville abattoir‚ operations at the Clayville abattoir are being wound down with the objective of suspending operations completely by March 31 2018.”
The impact on the company is still being calculated.
An amount of R425-million is being claimed in a class action suit against Tiger Brands and Enterprise Foods.
The company is also facing huge financial costs as a result of the recall and the suspension of operations at the four sites.
Tiger Brands disclosed yesterday that, to date: “In respect of the separately identifiable costs associated directly with the recall and the suspension of production at its Polokwane‚ Germiston‚ Pretoria and Clayville sites‚ it is estimated that these costs‚ including the cost of destruction of the affected products‚ raw materials and work in progress‚ will range between R337million and R377-million on a pre-tax basis (before accounting for any insurance recoveries).
“These costs include the national and regional costs of recalling all of the VAMP products produced at the Polokwane‚ Germiston and Pretoria sites‚ with the exception of canned products which are produced at a separate plant on the Polokwane site.”
It is anticipated the maximum potential insurance it can recover is R94-million.
The company is not yet sure when the Polokwane‚ Germiston‚ Pretoria or Clayville facilities will be able to resume operations.
Commenting on the Department of Health and independent laboratory tests on the presence of LST6 in the environment at its Polokwane Enterprise Foods manufacturing facility‚ the company said: “Whether this presence of LST6 can be said to have caused any illness or death remains unclear at present and testing in that regard is an ongoing process likely to take time.
“Listeriosis is a complex and global challenge caused by a wide variety of foods. To this end‚ the company is intensifying its efforts to understand the origins of the ST6 type in its total value chain. A sustainable national solution for South Africa can only be achieved through a collaborative multisectoral approach involving industry‚ government‚ regulators‚ scientific experts and civil society groupings. The company intends to be at the forefront of seeking this solution.”