South Africans are calling for a total overhaul of the entire food safety system
South Africa is in need of a major reform in food safety system after a mysterious outbreak of listeria killed 164 of 872 confirmed cases in the last month. 43% of the dead are babies, informs Food Safety News magazine.
The situation is causing panic among the local population or a state of "listeria hysteria" as the president of South African Association of Food Science and Technology (SAAFoST), Lucia Anelich, called it. 90% of the cases presented the same strain of infection which led to the conclusion that the source of the disease was a single food product or range of food products consumed often and by both rich and poor across South Africa; “Cold meats, for example, range from viennas and polony to more expensive slices of ham.”, assumed Anelich. A food safety expert and an epidemiologist with listeriosis experience have been sent to South Africa by the World Health Organization (WHO) to help identify the source of the outbreak.
WHO officials are criticizing the South African authorities for ignoring the risk of an outbreak and maintaining the number of environmental health practitioners responsible for monitoring all food outlets from restaurants to informal vendors under 2,000 when the system is in need of at least 5,000 practitioners. Also, the public request a dramatic overhaul of our legislation and the entire food safety system, as Lucia Anelich pointed out after a SAAFoST workshop on this subject.
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