Wash fridges with bleach to avoid listeria

Get rid immediately of polony and any other ready-to-eat processed meat products stocked up in your fridge.

This was the message from Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi yesterday in an effort to combat the deadly ST6 strain of listeria bacteria.

Briefing the media from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Motsoaledi said risky meats included polony, viennas, russians, frankfurters, other sausages and all cold meats.

Motsoaledi said polony and products from the Enterprise factory in Polokwane, Limpopo, had been identified as the source of the current listeria outbreak – the largest in the world.

There have been 180 deaths in South Africa since the outbreak of the food-borne disease in January this year – eight of which were recorded in the Eastern Cape.

“I’ve already emptied my fridge of polony and sausages.

“Any human being with these products in their fridge must immediately get rid of them,” Motsoaledi said.

In his sternest warning, he warned pregnant women who could pass it on to their infants, and elderly people, and people with compromised immune systems to avoid any processed meat “like the plague”.

“These people must not go anywhere near these products,” he said.

Motsoaledi said the process of a national recall of all Enterprise products would be issued and announced soon.

In the meantime, he advised all consumers and retail stores to remove processed meats from their fridges, and wash out their fridges with bleach, along with all surfaces where food is prepared, to kill any listeria bacteria.

Retail stores reacted to the news by recalling all products from their stores.

The Shoprite Group announced they would be removing all ready-to-eat meat products from Enterprise and Rainbow Chicken following the minister’s announcement, and advised customers to return any processed products in their fridges for a full refund.

In Buffalo City, the managing director of 13 Spar stores under the Western Gruppe Trading, Nigel Connellan said: “The safety of our customers is always of paramount importance.

“ I have taken the decision to remove and isolate all products from this particular supplier in all our stores until I have further information from the Department of Health.”

The Dispatch visited two local retail stores and saw the products still on sale and no action being taken to remove them.

A Rainbow Chicken Limited factory in Wolwerhoek, Sasolburg, also tested positive for listeria bacteria, but Motsoaledi said it was not the cause behind the current strain.

In a research breakthrough, Motsoaledi said the ST6 monocytogenes strain had been traced to the factory after more than 16 environmental samples from the Enterprise Polokwane factory tested positive for ST6.

This particular strain of listeria is transmitted through food.

“The contamination of ready-to-eat food confirmed there is a health risk involved.

“We advise members of the public to avoid all processed meat products sold as ready-to-eat,” the Minister said.

Beacon Bay resident Vuyi Mhaga said she had gone shopping yesterday to buy ready-to-eat meat for lunch for her family, but left the store empty-handed.

“I don’t know how I feel about the minister’s announcement, but I’m no longer comfortable consuming these foods. We currently have some in our fridge, but they’re banned from our household going forward,” she said.

Natasha Goosen from Sunnyridge said she had already stopped buying these products due to the listeria outbreak.

“We started staying away a while ago. The announcement comes with a lot of pressure because now we’re restricted to food we have to heat up or cook before eating.”

Nompumelelo resident Fumana Mjoli said she was shocked.

“I was about to buy these products again. It’s going to be difficult staying away from these products because they’re affordable and come in handy in our homes.” — with additional reporting by Katharine Child.