The company released a statement confirming that the LST 6 strain had been found at one of its food factories in Polokwane on Tuesday.

Tiger Brands is facing two class-action lawsuits following the biggest listeria outbreak seen in South Africa, which has killed 180 people already.

Those affected have called for both Tiger Brands and Enterprise Foods to be found liable for the deaths and injuries that resulted from the listeria outbreak.

Tiger Brands, however, has said that the court needs to decide how the matter should proceed, whether there are grounds for it to proceed, which of the two suits should proceed or whether a hybrid of the two should go ahead.

In December 2017, South Africa’s Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, confirmed that some 557 cases of Listeriosis had been recorded in hospitals across the country between January and November 2017.

He shared how the department became aware of the outbreak.

“In July 2017 doctors from neonatal units in the Chris Hani Baragwanath and Steve Biko Academic hospitals alerted the NICD  about unusually high numbers of babies with listeriosis.

“This triggered a review of all cases diagnosed in both public and private hospitals,” he explained.

“Although anyone can get Listeriosis,  those at high risk of developing severe disease include newborns, the elderly, pregnant women, persons with weak immunity such as HIV, diabetes, cancer, chronic liver or kidney disease,” he added.

SA Breaking News