Pioneer Foods recalls Safari products over salmonella infection concerns

Pioneer Foods has recalled certain batches of Safari peanuts & raisins and cashew nuts products in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.

According to Pioneer Foods, routine testing at the Safari production site in KwaZulu-Natal identified a batch of products which tested positive for low levels of salmonella typhimurium (³ValmRQella´).

Based on safety protocols, production was immediately halted and the product placed on hold and ringfenced.

The production site was then deep-cleaned, and vector sampling completed, said Pioneer Foods in a statement on Monday.

On 17 November 2021, a limited number of cases of Safari 60g Peanuts & Raisins (Best Before: 27/10/2022) and Safari 100 g Raw Cashews (Best Before: 27/6/2022) were released to the trade, despite having been isolated and ringfenced for destruction. These are the only SKUs that have been affected, it said.

“This limited number of affected products should never have been released into trade, and whilst we have not received any health-related complaints from consumers to date, we have decided to proceed to proactively recall these specific products,” said CEO Tertius Carstens.

“We have managed to retrieve 92% of the impacted product at the time of this communication. Only the following Safari Peanuts & Raisins and Raw Cashew nuts products, with the relevant batch and production codes, distributed inside South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are affected. All other Safari products remain safe for consumption”

Carstens said Pioneer Foods had already engaged with the South African National Consumer Commission and the Department of Health on the matter.

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“Consumers who have the products listed above, with the specific batch or date coding, are urged to return these products to the retailer from which they were purchased in order to receive a full refund.”

Salmonella is a group of bacteria that causes a wide spectrum of diseases, with the most common type estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to affect over 17 million people worldwide each year.

Salmonella Typhimurium causes gastroenteritis, leading to diarrhea, vomiting, fever and abdominal cramps. These symptoms may last up to seven days. People infected by Salmonella Typhimurium rarely require antibiotics or hospitalisation.