Tiger Brands recall products from Pretoria plant

JOHANNESBURG – South African food company Tiger Brands said yesterday it had decided to recall all products at the Pretoria facility of its Value Added Meat Products (VAMP) brand, after a national recall at both its Polokwane and Germiston facilities over a listeriosis outbreak.

“Production at the plant, which produces the company’s SNAX brand, will also be suspended,” the company said in a statement. “This decision was taken as a result of the detection of listeria monocytogenes at the facility, following heightened testing protocols which have been introduced.”

Tiger Brands said on 5 March it immediately recalled its Enterprise ready-to-eat chilled processed meat product range after the health minister identified it as the source of a deadly listeriosis outbreak.

But its chief executive, Laurence MacDougall, later told journalists that there were no direct links between the deaths of 180 people from listeriosis and its products.

“Given the suspension of operations at the Polokwane and Germiston sites, which are the primary recipients of the production of the company’s Clayville abattoir, operations at the Clayville abattoir are being wound down with the objective of suspending operations completely by 31 March 2018,” the company said yesterday.

It estimated the cost of the recalls and suspension of production at the Polokwane, Germiston, Pretoria and Clayville sites, including the cost of destruction of the affected products, raw materials and work in progress, at between R337 million and R377 million on a pre-tax basis.

“The VAMP business is estimated to record a loss before interest and taxation of between R28 million and R33 million for the March trading period, which runs from 25 February to 31 March,” it said.

“At this point, no guidance is available as to when the Polokwane, Germiston, Pretoria or Clayville facilities will resume operations.”

On Friday, Tiger Brands was served with an application for an order declaring the constitution of two classes for claims, the first comprising all people who consumed a processed meat product manufactured by the company and who became ill as a result of such food product being contaminated with listeria any time between 1 May 2017 and the date of issue of summons in a class action to be brought.

The second class comprises the dependants of such persons.

The total amount claimed against Tiger Brands and its subsidiary, Enterprise Foods, is estimated at R425 million. – Nampa-ANA