No Listeria-bearing products in National School Nutrition Programme
No processed meat products are used in the National School Nutrition Programme, said Department of Basic Education.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) would like to reassure parents, learners and members of the public that no processed meat products are used in the National School Nutrition Programme.
This is in light of the announcement from Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the Minister of Health, regarding the source of the deadly listeriosis outbreak. The Minister announced on Sunday, 4 March, that the source of the outbreak was found to be processed meat products such as polony, vienna sausages and other processed cold meat products often consumed by children.
The food served to over nine million learners daily as part of the NSNP is, however, safe and excludes these meat products. However, parents and the greater school community should remain vigilant as these food items often form part of packed lunches or are sold to learners by external food vendors outside of schools or at tuck shops.
Listeriosis is a serious disease that has already taken the lives of 180 people since January this year. However, it is preventable and treatable. To this end, the DBE has issued a circular to all provincial education departments and schools on measures to take in order to prevent the spread of listeriosis.
Schools have been advised of the following:
Volunteer food handlers should maintain a high level of personal hygiene and wash hands at all times. Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly. Ensure safe preparation, cooking, serving of meals and cleaning of the cooking area. Learners should wash any fruit bought from the school vendor before consuming it.
Practice basic food hygiene principles as outlined in the World Health Organisation’s ‘Five Keys to Safer Food’ programme.
The core ‘commandments’ of food hygiene are:
• Keep clean: Wash your hands before handling food and often during food preparation.
• Separate raw and cooked food: Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other foods.
• Cook food thoroughly: Pay particular attention to meat, poultry, eggs and seafoods.
• Keep food at safe temperatures: Refrigerate and reheat foods correctly.
• Use safe water and raw materials: Use safe water or make it safe (by boiling); choose foods processed for safety such as pasteurised dairy products; and wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, especially if eaten raw.
The DBE added in a statement, “We encourage teachers and parents to report to the nearest health care facility if learners present with diarrhoea, headache, neck stiffness, confusion, loss of balance and flu-like symptoms. In instances where children are involved, it is better to be safe than sorry, as this is a preventable and treatable disease. We urge parents to heed the advice from Health Minister Motsoaledi when preparing lunch boxes for their children to ensure that they contain no food items that may carry liseriosis.”
The Department of Health further advises members of the public to avoid all processed meat products that are sold as ready-to-eat.
“While we know that polony is definitely implicated, there is a risk of cross-contamination of other ready-to-eat processed meat products, either at production, distribution or retail level. This is because Listeria on the exterior casing (packaging) of polony can be transferred to other products it comes into contact with, including viennas, russians, frankfurters, other sausages, and other ‘cold meat’ products that are typically not cooked before eating.”
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