One man got a divorce over noodles. Image via Unsplash
Killer noodles: Toxic brands to be ‘named and shamed’ soon
Since at least five children died after eating noodles, consumers have been up in arms, demanding that the brands be exposed
One man got a divorce over noodles. Image via Unsplash
It’s only a matter of time before the two Noodle brands that have been linked to several suspicious deaths, are outed. At this stage, the brands are known to the National Consumer Commission (NCC) but it is treading carefully, particularly as an investigation is still underway.
REMINDER: In November, five children died after eating certain brands of noodles in Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape. The Department of Health subsequently announced it was investigating cases of possible food poisoning in both provinces, as well as Gauteng.
Acting Commissioner Thezi Mabuza told CapeTalk they are currently in the process of communicating with the two manufacturers involved in its investigation. Mabuza says for now, they want to formally serve them with an investigation certificate so that they know before they can go public and name them.
NOODLE DEATHS: NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE YET
Thezi Mabuza says lab tests haven’t provided conclusive results which prove beyond reasonable doubt that the deaths of the children are linked to the particular Noodle brands, which is really the main problem at this stage.
South African consumers have been up in arms, demanding that the noodle brands be exposed. As a safety measure, many have stopped purchasing noodles altogether until they know for sure.
“We haven’t gotten in touch with the suppliers. We are still formally getting in touch with them. We are in the process. Before we can name them and name the brand, which will probably be in the course of this week,” Mabuza told the Cape Town radio station.
There’s no word yet to the progress in the Department of Health’s investigation surrounding the tragedies. The NCCC is one of the key stakeholders working with the department, which has said it will wait await the laboratory testing results and forensic investigations before making a conclusive statement.
“We have reasonable suspicion but we don’t have the grounds to recall. Because if you recall, you recall a particular product and you recall a particular batch but in this case, those grounds have not been established because we do not have those lab results”
Acting Commissioner Thezi Mabuza
