Top Score manufacturer Namib Mills has released test results confirming its instant maize porridge is safe.
This after three Mdantsane children died and a fourth was admitted to hospital after allegedly consuming the company’s vanilla-flavoured instant maize porridge on September 27.
Namib Mills senior brand manager Marné Bouwer said in a statement that the company had temporarily recalled all variants of Top Score Instant Porridge from SA, Namibia, Lesotho and Zambia after the incident.
“Even though there is no evidence linking our product to this isolated incident, we took this step out of an abundance of caution to ensure consumer safety and confidence,” Bouwer said.
“We also sent our products for rigorous testing to an independent, SANAS-accredited laboratory in SA.
“SANAS accreditation certificates are a formal recognition by the government of SA that an organisation is competent to perform specific tasks.
“The results confirm that Top Score Instant Porridge is safe for consumption.
“This testing encompassed not only the specific batch in question —06/08/2024 — but also multiple batches across different flavours and production dates, to further reassure consumers and stakeholders that our product poses no health risk and complies with the highest standards in food safety.”
Testing was completed in an independent laboratory on more than 10 different flavours and batch numbers for “200 types of pesticides”, heavy metals, disease-causing bacteria, viruses and toxins.
Bouwer said that the results ruled out poisoning from pesticide exposure, heavy metals exposure and foodborne illnesses and “confirms the absence of harmful micro-organisms”.
“Which means our products are not the source of food poisoning,” she said.
“The test results confirm that our product batches across all variants (flavours) are free from harmful contaminants and comply with the highest standards of food safety.
“Top Score Instant Porridge is entirely safe for human consumption.”
She added, however, that “there is always a possibility that contamination may occur after the products leave our control”.
Bouwer urged consumers to adhere to product safety measures on hygiene, proper storage and safe transportation and expiry dates.
Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said that tests done by the municipality at independent laboratories were still in progress.
DispatchLIVE
Porridge linked to deaths of Mdantsane children declared safe after tests
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
Top Score manufacturer Namib Mills has released test results confirming its instant maize porridge is safe.
This after three Mdantsane children died and a fourth was admitted to hospital after allegedly consuming the company’s vanilla-flavoured instant maize porridge on September 27.
Namib Mills senior brand manager Marné Bouwer said in a statement that the company had temporarily recalled all variants of Top Score Instant Porridge from SA, Namibia, Lesotho and Zambia after the incident.
“Even though there is no evidence linking our product to this isolated incident, we took this step out of an abundance of caution to ensure consumer safety and confidence,” Bouwer said.
“We also sent our products for rigorous testing to an independent, SANAS-accredited laboratory in SA.
“SANAS accreditation certificates are a formal recognition by the government of SA that an organisation is competent to perform specific tasks.
“The results confirm that Top Score Instant Porridge is safe for consumption.
“This testing encompassed not only the specific batch in question —06/08/2024 — but also multiple batches across different flavours and production dates, to further reassure consumers and stakeholders that our product poses no health risk and complies with the highest standards in food safety.”
Testing was completed in an independent laboratory on more than 10 different flavours and batch numbers for “200 types of pesticides”, heavy metals, disease-causing bacteria, viruses and toxins.
Bouwer said that the results ruled out poisoning from pesticide exposure, heavy metals exposure and foodborne illnesses and “confirms the absence of harmful micro-organisms”.
“Which means our products are not the source of food poisoning,” she said.
“The test results confirm that our product batches across all variants (flavours) are free from harmful contaminants and comply with the highest standards of food safety.
“Top Score Instant Porridge is entirely safe for human consumption.”
She added, however, that “there is always a possibility that contamination may occur after the products leave our control”.
Bouwer urged consumers to adhere to product safety measures on hygiene, proper storage and safe transportation and expiry dates.
Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said that tests done by the municipality at independent laboratories were still in progress.
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