In our recent webinar a lot of questions and comments were raised. And here is what you have to say about Listeria...
What role if any are Food Scientists and Technologists playing in the fight against this outbreak? Does the DoH involve Food Scientists and Technologists in the management of food-borne disease outbreaks in South Africa?
Are there policies and procedures in place to help identify and curtail food-borne disease outbreaks in South Africa?
How long did it take for the DoH to determine there was an outbreak of Listeriosis in South Africa?
What is the source of the Listeriosis outbreaks?
Are there procedures in place to help identify possible food poisoning / food borne disease outbreak during initial screenings at the hospital / clinics?
Why did it take so long for the DoH to inform the public of this outbreak?
Is it possible that the outbreak originated in the hospitals?
There has been a notification suggesting outbreak originated in Sasolburg, any news on that?
Do we know for sure that contaminations came via food producers?
The nature of the raw materials and processing methods should help determine the pathogens that should be tested for.
I think most suppliers, retailers and QSRs include Listeria in shelf life verification, environmental swabs and product testing
Until our recalls become public knowledge, they would not be as successful as they should be. We do not have the correct communication channel to inform, all stores stocking products to pull off contaminated products fast enough.
Also, pathogen testing can take up to 5 days to get results by which time all product could be off the shelf!
Has the Department of Health determined the common denominator? i.e. root cause?
How do they know 21 days? Do the actually know the source, but is not saying yet?
An Afrikaans whatsapp just went viral - warning public about processed food, meat and fresh produce...
In his interview on Cape Talk/702 the Minister of Health said that they have been tracking the outbreak since January already and it was only deemed notifiable in July.
If the first case was reported back in September and new cases are still arising then this suggests a long shelf life product or repeated contamination!
It is laughable that they deem Listeriosis a food-borne illness that kills especially the immuno-compromised / babies / and the frail elderly non notifiable, especially considering how many people fall into these categories in South Africa.
Nothing laughable about listeriosis. It's the main cause of death from foodborne disease in the EU.
We should have a recall forum and communication channel like how the FDA has and sends out the notifications!
Listeriosis is not laughable, but the response of the DoH is really not in line with the seriousness of the situation.
Suggest starting with environmental sampling (Listeria spp and/or Lm) of plants producing ready to eat food that supports the growth of Lm.
Are there any laboratories which are accredited to test for Listeriolysin O (LLO) ?
But this puts the burden of proof on the injured. Should food companies not be compelled to prove their product is not the culprit.
Could all the droughts and flash flooding have any effect on the increase of the presence of Listeria in ground soil and water?
If SA Govt introduces whole genome sequencing and instigates a food sampling plan, particularly of foods consumed by pregnant women, then links may be identified. Is WGS used by SA Govt?
Could this not be inadvertently reduce the reporting of possible food borne disease outbreaks as it could be costly to the injured to prove?
I was wondering whether this is somehow connected to the drought last year in Gauteng and the quality of irrigation and washing water?
Yes, if so, would the Western Cape not be in higher danger now with the severe drought and Level 6 water restrictions coming.
Amnesty/confidentiality is vital as most producers will not volunteer information. Will be interesting to know if DOH can force labs to submit their analysis data. the overwhelming majority of producers don’t test for pathogens in their own labs (cannot hold control organisms and test for pathogens without authorization). So any results of pathogens will be with the external labs they use.
Do you have something to say? Use our forum
