Test results are conclusive: on 24 April, Tiger Brands announced to shareholders that they had received confirmation of the presence of LST6 in the samples from their Enterprise Polokwane processing facility, which had been sent for independent re-testing.
This outcome confirms the unswerving assertions from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) that Enterprise is the source of the ST6 outbreak strain, which is responsible for the massive Listeriosis outbreak that has rocked South Africa in recent months and has resulted in almost 200 deaths.
To their credit, Tiger Brands have chosen to be proactive about sharing the news and owning up to the findings and they seem committed to working with the authorities to address the situation.
They have also confirmed that their facilities in Polokwane, Pretoria and Germiston will remain closed while remedial work continues, and that they have an arrangement in place with Pork Packers and their pig suppliers to contract slaughter on their behalf with effect from 2 May 2018.
It is going to be a long road back – starting with the cleaning and corrective actions at the facilities. It’s probable that they are also going to want to review their management systems, processes and perhaps even invest in further training and education of their people.
The rehabilitation of the brand, and restoration of customer confidence is likely to be an uphill battle, but with enough determination and transparency, perhaps there is hope.
Here is the full announcement
Results of Independent Tests carried out in respect of the presence of Listeria monocytogenes ST6 type (“LST6”)
Shareholders are referred to the SENS announcement issued by the Company on 5 March 2018, relating to an order issued by the National Consumer Commission for the Company to conduct a recall of certain identified Enterprise products. In that announcement, it was stated that in a batch of one of its products tested by the Company on 14 February 2018, the presence of the ST6 strain could not be confirmed and that the relevant samples had been sent to an external laboratory for the identification of the strain. The test results were received on 15 March 2018, but these had proved inconclusive and, as a result, the samples were sent for further re-testing.
The purpose of this announcement is to update shareholders on the results of the independent laboratory re-testing which was carried out in respect of the presence of LST6 in the above samples which were manufactured at the Enterprise Polokwane processing facility. On 24 April 2018, Tiger Brands received confirmation of the presence of LST6 in these samples.
As reported previously, we have been actively engaging with the Department of Health and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases on our findings and will continue to collaborate with them on the actions taken to date to actively address our findings.
The Enterprise facilities in Polokwane, Pretoria and Germiston remain closed while remedial work continues. An arrangement has been concluded between Pork Packers (which is based in Clayville) and our pig suppliers to contract slaughter on their behalf with effect from 2 May 2018.
Bryanston
25 April 2018
