Listeriosis: kitchen hygiene tips
The deadly listeriosis outbreak is caused by a nasty bug that spreads easily and rapidly. Experts offer tips on protecting yourself and your family
POLONY sandwiches, Vienna hot dogs, ham sarmies – South Africans used to find them hard to resist. But not anymore. Now even the thought of these meals could get many people looking decidedly green around the gills.
These days several cold meat products are off the menu after it’s come to light this quick, convenient and relatively cheap meal option might’ve caused the deaths of more than 180 South Africans, with a particular brand of polony a key suspect.
After months of hunting for the source of the world’s worst listeriosis outbreak authorities said they finally tracked it down to the Enterprise factory in Polokwane, Limpopo – tests showed polony from the facility was contaminated with the deadly ST6 strain of the bacteria listeria, which has resulted in more than 960 cases of listeriosis since January last year.
Now as the risk of a massive class action law suit looms for Tiger Brands – which owns Enterprise and is South Africa’s largest consumer foods company – consumers are opening their fridges and feeling undeniably queasy. WHY YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED Even if you’ve never eaten polony you’re still at risk. This is because the bug that causes listeriosis is so virulent there’s a strong chance it also contaminated other products at the factory and perhaps also beyond.
It’s been reported the bacteria were so widespread in the factory it wasn’t only in the meat but also on the exterior plastic casings, metal binding clips and inside the cut ends of wrapping. This means it could easily have been transferred to other products during production or distribution.
So even if you never buy Enterprise polony the bacteria could be in your Vienna sausages or ham.
This explains why the department of health is taking no chances and has advised consumers to steer well clear of all processed meat products that are “typically not cooked before eating”.
Traces of listeria were also found at an Enterprise factory in Germiston, Gauteng, as well as in polony products at a Rainbow Chicken facility near Sasolburg in the Free State. Even though this wasn’t the deadly ST6 strain, it’s still viewed as a health risk and triggered a product recall.
Irene Labuschagne, a dietician at the Nutrition Information Centre at the University of Stellenbosch, says it’s best to avoid all ready-to-eat processed meats until further notice.
In addition the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) advises high-risk individuals – people older than 65, pregnant women, young babies and
anyone with a compromised immune system, for example those who are HIV-positive or have cancer or diabetes – to avoid processed meat products, unpasteurised milk or dairy products containing unpasteurised milk, soft cheese such as feta and goat’s cheese, as well as deli foods that can’t be properly heated, including readymade salads, cold and smoked seafood and cold pâtés.
If you or your family haven’t shown any signs of the disease, which includes fever, nausea, diarrhoea, muscle aches and neck stiffness, you’re still not out of the woods – it can take up to 70 days for the illness to manifest. If you experience any of these symptoms seek medical help. EXTRA SOURCES: CDC.GOV, ANELICHCONSULTING.CO.ZA, SUNDAY TIMES