Return suspect meat products to retailers
Food Giant Tiger Brands will be following strict guidelines to ensure the safe destruction of returned Enterprise products following the recall of products presumed to be contaminated by listeriosis.
Nevashnee Naicker, spokesperson for Tiger Brands, said “the products that have been returned are being quarantined by our distribution partners, who will be following strict guidelines to ensure the products are safely destroyed.”
She could not provide details on the exact disposal procedures which would be followed.
The mass round-up of processed meat products comes after an announcement made by Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi during a press briefing on Sunday about the deadly outbreak of listeriosis being traced to Enterprise food production facilities in Polokwane and Germiston.
Government subsequently ordered the food giant to shut down both factories and recall all its products.
The mass recall at all food distribution outlets in South Africa has seen scores of frustrated consumers standing in queues to return their ready-to-eat meat products to retailers.
Naicker explained that most products from retailers and traders had been returned and they were now awaiting customer returns.
While Enterprise products in the food giants’ SADC export markets will also be recalled, Mozambique, Lesotho and Zambia have implemented a ban on the import of ready-to-eat meat products from South Africa.
On Monday, CEO of Tiger Brands, Lawrence MacDougall, said there was no direct link between the deaths attributed to the listeriosis outbreak.
He claimed Enterprise products and their facilities “surpassed” South African standards, conforming to European standards.
Department of health spokesperson Popo Maja has advised people to “avoid throwing the products in the rubbish bin and send them back to the supermarket where they were purchased.”
Most retailers across the country have indicated that they will refund any of the implicated products’ purchase prices in full, with some waiving the proof-ofpurchase requirement.
The proper disposal of infected products is crucial, since mixing it with general refuse could compromise the health of the thousands of waste pickers, working in landfills all around the country.
Retailers will work with the department of health and waste management companies to ensure that all returned products are destroyed safely. – Citizen reporter