Tiger Brands investigating source of listeriosis
The company says it is hard at work trying to find out exactly how the food borne disease contaminated its cold meats.
Tiger Brands says it has appointed a team of experts to determine the "root cause" of the listeriosis outbreak in its Polokwane factory.
The company, along with Rainbow Chicken and a range of retailers, this week embarked on a recall of its products following an announcement by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Sunday.
Motsoaledi identified the Polokwane facility as the source of the outbreak, and another Enterprise factory in Germiston and a Rainbow Chicken facility in Sasolburg as compromised.
Tiger Brands now says it received a report from the Health Department, which confirms the presence of the ST6 (LST6) strain in its Polokwane facility.
"The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority," the company's CEO Lawrence MacDougall said in a statement.
The company stresses that it is doing everything it can to determine the cause.
Cleaning up the mess
Both the Polokwane and Germiston factories remain closed, while RCL Foods has also recalled all its polony products produced in Sasolburg.
Tiger Brands says it has removed the majority of the affected products with the help of dedicated trucks.
The meats are being kept in a quarantine warehouse and are set to be disposed or incinerated at a later stage.
The National Institution of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has now meanwhile confirmed 183 people have so far died from the food borne disease.