WHILE many shops had their hands full taking Enterprise and Rainbow Chicken food products linked to the listeria outbreak off their shelves, some local butcheries were left with empty shelves due to the increase in demand from people who were turning to them as another source of processed meat products.
Mid-Karoo Express correspondnet Nolan Venter reports that Avon Butchery in Fort Beaufort had a big increase in demand for processed meats. According to its owner, Darryl Fetting, they could not keep up with the demand since last week and will therefore have to increase their production.
Mid-Karoo Express correspondent in Bedford, Catherine Knox reports that while one of their local butcheries did not experience much of an increase in demand, there has however, been an increase in customers’ concerns over the safety of processed meats.
“We always sell a lot of our in-house cold meats and processed meats, polonies, viennas, bierwurst etc,” said Karen Morgan of the family owned Farm Butchery which has branches in Bedford and Adelaide.
“We haven’t noticed a particular increase in sales, but we have noticed that people are anxious. Everyone is asking if the cold meats are safe.
“We reassure them with the promise that we never sell anything we do not eat ourselves,” said Morgan.
Queenstown Express reporter Sanele James reports that the MEC for Health in the Eastern Cape, Dr Pumza Dyantyi, has confirmed that the deadly listeria bacteria injection has so far claimed two lives in the Chris Hani district since last year.
Dyantyi revealed the information when she visited Komani last week as part of the Bhisho delegation which accompanied Premier Phumulo Masualle at post-SOPA engagements with farmers from the area.
According to Dyantyi, there have been four people diagnosed with the disease in the Chris Hani region and two of those succumbed due to the bacteria.
“At least 49 people have been diagnosed with the disease in the province and 12 of them unfortunately died. In the Chris Hani region two people died – one in Komani and one in Cradock,” said Dyantyi.
Without going into details, Dyantyi said one person died last year and the other died this year with the latest case being a newborn who was infected while in the womb.
“The woman who lost her child to the bacteria is still being treated in one of the hospitals in Port Elizabeth,” said Dyantyi.
The bacterium is spread when people eat food contaminated with the bacterium. The most common foods to be contaminated are raw or unpasteurised milk, as well as soft cheeses, or vegetables, processed foods, ready-to-eat meats and smoked fish products.
Infection with listeria bacteria results in mild to severe gastroenteritis. In people with weak immune systems it can lead to meningitis or septicaemia. And in pregnant women, listeriosis can result in a miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery, or meningitis in the newborn – leading to permanent disability.
Dyantyi said they had visited several supermarkets, meat traders and various abattoirs in the Chris Hani district where samples were taken for laboratory testing. They were still awaiting results.
Since the outbreak of listeriosis stores have recalled all the products suspected to be the source of the disease in the country. Consumers were also invited to return the items linked to the diseases to the outlets where they purchased them.
The suspected products included Enterprise Foods cold meats and some Rainbow Chicken products.