BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has revealed that it is alert to issues of food poisoning reported in South Africa given that most of the food products sold in various shops in the city are imported from that country.
More than 20 children reportedly died and at least 890 incidents linked to food-borne illnesses were reported in South Africa between September 2024 and end of year, with foreign-owned Spaza shops being accused of selling poisoned food.
There were escalating fears that since most of Zimbabwe’s food products are imported from South Africa, the shops in Bulawayo may also sell poisoned food.
According to the latest BCC minutes on food safety, councillor Ntando Ndlovu highlighted that children in South Africa died after consuming expired food sold at tuckshops.
“Food poisoning has become a public health emergency. This situation is worrying because most of the foodstuffs sold in tuckshops are imported from South Africa. What measures are being taken to ensure safety of the residents from consuming contaminated food,” Ndlovu asked.
The minutes state that councillor Adrian Moyo in response indicated that city health inspectors were on high alert and conducted inspection of food outlets accordingly in order to ensure that food handlers adhere to the specifications and standards expected within the city.
On the health inspectorate the council noted that the director of health services Edwin Sibanda reported last month that routine inspections were carried out during the month and intimations were issued to non-compliant premises.
“A total of nine intimations were issued due to non-compliance to public health laws. The offences included operating a butchery without a valid registration certificate, operating an illegal food cart, illegal water kiosk, illegal ice-cream cart, operating without a registration certificate and trading licence, no medical certificates for food handlers, operating an illegal kitchen, no hot water supplies and dirty and oily surfaces,” the minutes read.
- Uproar over census figures
- Byo Arts Festival in turmoil…One year later, festival has yet to pay artists…Organisers play cat and mouse with artists
- Bulawayo struggles to clear housing backlog
- Council acts tough on debts
Keep Reading
Council noted that the foodstuffs, which were condemned for being unsuitable for human consumption, were mixed veggies, butter mushroom, oyster mushroom, cucumber PNT, Brocoli PNT, Strawberry PNT, Okra PNT, peas, white grapes, red grapes, stewing lamb, goat, feet, tripe, casings, commercial beef, kidneys, zondo, sausages, boiled eggs, pasta salads and chicken salad.
Other foods condemned included potato salad, beetroot salad, coleslaw salad, cucumber salad, beef stew, gammon, rice and jelly, among others.
“Preventive activities to monitor the health status of the community so as to identify potential problems and prevent emergence of risk factors were rolled out. These included premise inspections,” the minutes read.
“306 premises were inspected during the month of November 2024 compared to the previous month’s 356, with the highest being trading premises (65%), followed by domiciliary visits (22%) and non-trading premises (13%).”
Council noted that during inspections, unsatisfactory conditions were identified.
“Offenders were issued with intimations (18) and deposit fines (9) for non-compliance with Public Health legislation. Seven new shops were recommended for licensing,” the minutes read.
