In September, FairPlay’s Lionel Adendorf met with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of South Africa’s National Consumer Commission. FairPlay continues to campaign for the establishment of a national, integrated food control agency.
Earlier this year South Africa’s listeriosis outbreak claimed the lives of more than 200 people bringing the department of health under fire for lax food safety legislation.
FairPlay has consistently expressed concerns over the tardy review of local food safety legislation and its perceived laxity, and has said the department of health is failing to protect South African consumers.
In July of this year FairPlay spokesperson Melinda Shaw said: “The outbreak of listeriosis highlighted the urgent need for packaging of all imported meat products to comply with the same regulations demanded of local products, which ensures full traceability and accountability.”
As FairPlay Founder, Francois Baird noted during the height of the outbreak “Instead of defending an underfunded and therefore inefficient testing regime, we should be fighting for greater safety for our consumers. We should be fighting for importers to be subject to the same rules as local producers. Imported product can be sold here as potentially coming from nine countries on three continents, making traceability difficult, if not impossible. In addition to deficiencies in labelling requirements for imported product, there are very worrying health risks in thawing and repackaging of frozen bulk imports. Extreme vigilance is needed. South African consumer safety must come first! ”
An essential first step in protecting South African consumers is the establishment of a national food control authority
