Plea for food agency

Listeriosis outbreak could have been averted, says expert

IF South Africa had a food control agency the listeria outbreak could have been contained. According to Gareth Lloyd-Jones, executive director of Ecowize – global leaders in specialised hygiene and sanitation service provider for the food, pharmaceutical and health-care industries – a food control agency is desperately needed in South Africa.

He said such an agency would be able to “better manage the threat presented by listeriosis and the risks associated with all food-borne diseases, moving forward”.

Lloyd-Jones said the outbreak needed to be taken far more seriously by the industry, “what we really need at this time”.

He advocated a dedicated food control agency, rather than the array of unlinked food safety laws mandated by different directorates, which have proven to be difficult to enforce and police.

“The way in which the Department of Health handled the temporary shutdown of Sovereign Foods (a poultry abattoir which supplies a shop where listeria had been detected) lacked the decorum, professionalism and integrity required in these situations.”

The Sovereign Foods abattoir in Pretoria was shut down temporarily after listeria pathogens were found at one of their abattoirs.

Lloyd-Jones said the listeria bacteria could be found in food products, including animal products such as cold cut and convenience-style meats, poultry and raw or unpasteurised milk, as well as in certain fruits and vegetables, improperly fermented silage, raw and treated sewage.

In most reported listeriosis outbreaks and cases of recall around the world, the source has been either dairy products, fresh produce and ready-to-eat products, but mainly products that get consumed without any further cooking process.

“All attention has been placed on Sovereign Foods, disregarding the fact that the bacteria may have manifested during the production of other high-risk products such as cream or cheese, or even during the packaging process.

“Currently, with the potential of food safety processes falling to the wayside, we are actually unaware of whether the outbreak may even be linked to food products imported from elsewhere in the world as there is no legal requirement for listeria testing of these products to comply with their importation certificate.”

Lloyd-Jones said that “until a dedicated expert body is put in charge of food control, those who are more vulnerable to listeria should take extra precaution”.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said as of last Tuesday a total of 820 cases had been confirmed since the start of this year.

“Most cases have been reported from Gauteng province, followed by Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. Cases have been diagnosed in both the public and private health-care sectors.”

The NICD said diagnosing listeria was done by isolating the listeria monocytogenes bacteria in blood culture.

“Ages of those affected range from birth to 93 years and 42% were neonates aged under 28 days. Of neonatal cases, 96% had early-onset disease. Females account for 55% of cases where gender is reported. Final outcome data is available for 29% of cases, of which 34% died.”

UNTIL A DEDICATED EXPERT BODY IS PUT IN CHARGE OF FOOD CONTROL, THOSE VULNERABLE TO LISTERIA SHOULD TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTION