DR SHEETAL BHOOLA
Food-related illnesses have been identified as key reasons why child and infant mortality has been on the increase. In addition, all members of society have been impacted by various food-related illnesses in South Africa, not just children. Yet child mortality has been a reason why these incidents suddenly become prioritised and addressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In recent years, children who were supposed to benefit from the South African National school feeding programs were also victims of food poisoning and were fed either food that was expired and stale, inadequate nutrition as well as inadequate meal portions. Entrepreneurs who were supposed to meet the meal guidelines per meal per child per day failed to do so for long periods because of a lack of an efficient and reliable evaluation process that can regularly report to the government about the success or challenges of this initiative. At this juncture, there was no direct address from the president.
President Ramaphosa has been engaging with South Africans and assuring them of necessary food safety measures. The recent number of child deaths and an increasing number of children who have been diagnosed with food-related illnesses has risen. Recent media reports have reported the sale of expired, perished and poisonous foods to South Africans.
There have been approximately 890 incidents reports in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and the most recent incident informed us those children consumed poisonous foods that contained terbufos which is a harmful ingredient in pesticides. In his recent address, he suggested that there would be a nationwide inspection process and the closure of spaza shops related to the deaths of these children.
The continual unregulated use of pesticides within communities and children has had access to these harmful substances. To curb and address this problem, the government has devised a three-stage plan to remove these substances from children.
As much as the government is being proactive at this juncture now, food safety has been an ongoing challenge in South Africa and all sects of society have been impacted over the years. In 2023, peanut butter was unsafe to consume because of the high levels of aflatoxins in the product.
Then earlier this year, the peanut butter saga continued, and it was reported by the National Consumer Commission that when the products were assessed after production, they were safe for consumption, but test results at a later stage declared that the products were unsafe.
In addition, Shoprite had to recall the Deli Hummus Range manufactured by BM Foods. Woolworths was also singled out for selling fake and expired Lucky Star tin fish. It was revealed that the tins were relabelled and then sold to Woolworths. In these instances, consumers are encouraged to stop eating the products and asked to return them with immediate effect to the supermarkets or point of sale.
Isn’t this approach too late at this stage? We have elderly people in our society who may be victims of such incidents and may never fully recover from a food borne illness. Food borne illnesses can also worsen their current medical conditions if unwell. All sects of society are affected, and one has to question why is it that an incident around children has brought about the sudden realisation that we have major food safety challenges to deal with.
The general lack of awareness of safe foods that can be consumed is mostly affected by our dire socio-economic conditions. Many impoverished households in South Africa eat what they can afford. Unfortunately, food safety regulations are ignored to pursue profits in an impoverished society, where people are still struggling to find jobs and be educated.
The central challenge is the lack of stringent and rigorous systematic evaluation processes coupled with rigid regulations that govern this sect in our society. The policies in place need to be re-assessed and determined if they are inclusive enough to deal with incidents that impact healthy food preparation processes.
The uncertainty and lack of access to running water and power supply have had a huge impact on the safety of foods being produced in the country, as well as the preservation process and storage. Simply explained, a poor person cannot afford to discard food that has been spoiled because of the lack of power supply. Similarly, the lack of water supply in the Gauteng region has also impacted food safety standards and people have to devise varied approaches to prepare their meals in a hygienic way.
The National Health Act of 2003 addresses the importance of consuming hygienic food. The act is inclusive of the implementation of food control, and inspections at food handling establishments, it authorises the investigations of food-related diseases and instructs preventative measures as well as remedies.
The act also endorses the process of food recall and is a framework for the certification process of foods that meet hygiene regulatory standards. Similarly, there are other acts, but the aims and the overall purposes of these acts need to be questioned, especially if South Africans are continually being exposed to unsafe foods. The acts are also outdated and need to be restructured to be contextually appropriate for a society that is continually evolving to meet the daily demands of survival.
The lack of focus on food safety, in general, has been a primary cause of why we have been exposed to hazardous foods in all sectors of society. The way forward would be for the government to invest in a national awareness outreach program as well as clamp down on fraudulent behaviour in the food manufacturing industry.
Imported foods should be rigorously assessed before they reach the shelves of supermarkets and manufacturing plants should be hygiene and regulatory-compliant. This too can be a bigger challenge if necessary resources such as water and electricity are inaccessible to industries and poor communities.
The causes of these incidents are numerous and until there is a proper focus and strategy in place, South Africa needs an urgent remedy.
Dr Sheetal Bhoola is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Zululand, and the director at StellarMaths (Sunningdale).
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media or IOL.
Daily News