(Ecofin Agency) - The South African government accused Tiger Brands, the giant food supplier, of being responsible for the listeriosis outbreak that hit the country in January 2017. The symptoms of this Listeria-caused disease are notably fever, nausea and muscle pain. It mainly affects weak persons such as elderly people and pregnant women.   

 According to data from WHO, this pandemic is the worst ever recorded, infecting 948 and killing another 180 since January 2017. Authorities who outlawed the consumption of processed meat said that the bacteriosis’ origin lies within the Company’s plant in Polokwane, Northeast of the country.

“The meat processing industry was not cooperating for months. They did not bring the samples as requested. We had long suspected that listeria can be found in these products,” the health ministry’s communications director, Popo Maja, said. He also added that all companies active in the sector will be inspected.

The company which was asked to withdraw its range of finely chopped ready-to-eat meat from the market says it does not acknowledge a direct link between the deaths identified and its products. It indicates however that it has stopped processing meat at the plant.

According to some analysts, this health crisis could reduce by 6% the operating profit of Tiger Brands’s food division.  Yesterday March 5, the value of the company’s shares declined by 7.4% on JSE, the biggest fall since April 2000.

Let’s recall that the South African giant holds 35.7% of the local market of processed meat, valued at $ 412 million in 2017.

Espoir Olodo