Five dairies selling raw milk in the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) have been closed following the provincial government’s tough stance on the sale of unpasteurised milk.
The move comes in the wake of a diarrhoea outbreak that resulted in more than 1000 pupils being rushed to three provincial hospitals in the King William’s Town area for medical treatment, apparently after consuming tainted sour milk.
The five dairies were served with compliance notices after Innesfree Agriculture and Dairy was shut on October28 for selling raw sour milk and milk. Provincial health spokesman Siyanda Manana said the dairies were issued with compliance notices after they were found to have contravened regulations governing the sale of milk and dairy products which state that selling raw milk or sour milk for human consumption was prohibited.
BCM spokesman Sibusiso Cindi, told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that the metro’s municipal health department had investigated various dairies and those found out of compliance with the law were issued with notices.
Asked why BCM was closing dairies when some pupils had reportedly fallen ill even though they had not consumed any dairy products, Cindi replied: “All farmers and food premises selling raw milk and raw sour milk must comply with the health regulations.”
Cindi said he was compiling a list of the names of the dairies that had been issued with the notices and promised to share them with the Dispatch but had not done so at the time of writing yesterday.
Meanwhile, a “summary” of the final report on the cause of the outbreak – which was sent to the Daily Dispatch by the department of health – confirms the results contained in a preliminary report released earlier.
An extract from the summary reads: “The laboratory results of the milk samples (raw and sour) confirmed that there were high total coliform count levels, and the presence of e.coli, yeasts and moulds.
“This confirms that the outbreak was as a result of the consumption of contaminated milk.
“High coliform count and the presence of e.coli suggest faecal (presumably animal dung) contamination of the milk, both sour and raw.
“The experiences from this outbreak show the need for a close working relationship between department of education and department of health to improve the health status of the learners and prevent further outbreaks from other communicable diseases.
“In conclusion, the presence of high coliform count, e.coli, yeasts and moulds in the milk provide evidence that the milk was highly contaminated. We therefore conclude that contaminated milk was responsible for the recent FBDs outbreak which occurred from October 24 to November 2 2016 and affected Amathole and Buffalo City Metro districts.” — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
Five dairies shut over raw milk crisis
The move comes in the wake of a diarrhoea outbreak that resulted in more than 1000 pupils being rushed to three provincial hospitals in the King William’s Town area for medical treatment, apparently after consuming tainted sour milk.
The five dairies were served with compliance notices after Innesfree Agriculture and Dairy was shut on October28 for selling raw sour milk and milk. Provincial health spokesman Siyanda Manana said the dairies were issued with compliance notices after they were found to have contravened regulations governing the sale of milk and dairy products which state that selling raw milk or sour milk for human consumption was prohibited.
BCM spokesman Sibusiso Cindi, told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that the metro’s municipal health department had investigated various dairies and those found out of compliance with the law were issued with notices.
Asked why BCM was closing dairies when some pupils had reportedly fallen ill even though they had not consumed any dairy products, Cindi replied: “All farmers and food premises selling raw milk and raw sour milk must comply with the health regulations.”
Cindi said he was compiling a list of the names of the dairies that had been issued with the notices and promised to share them with the Dispatch but had not done so at the time of writing yesterday.
Meanwhile, a “summary” of the final report on the cause of the outbreak – which was sent to the Daily Dispatch by the department of health – confirms the results contained in a preliminary report released earlier.
An extract from the summary reads: “The laboratory results of the milk samples (raw and sour) confirmed that there were high total coliform count levels, and the presence of e.coli, yeasts and moulds.
“This confirms that the outbreak was as a result of the consumption of contaminated milk.
“High coliform count and the presence of e.coli suggest faecal (presumably animal dung) contamination of the milk, both sour and raw.
“The experiences from this outbreak show the need for a close working relationship between department of education and department of health to improve the health status of the learners and prevent further outbreaks from other communicable diseases.
“In conclusion, the presence of high coliform count, e.coli, yeasts and moulds in the milk provide evidence that the milk was highly contaminated. We therefore conclude that contaminated milk was responsible for the recent FBDs outbreak which occurred from October 24 to November 2 2016 and affected Amathole and Buffalo City Metro districts.” — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos