Tiger Brands may be about to compensate some of those most seriously affected in a large Listeria outbreak in South Africa more than six years ago.
Tiger Brands revealed the proposal in a trading statement for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
“The company’s attorneys have engaged with the plaintiffs’ attorneys intending to agree on relief to qualifying individuals who have urgent medical needs, even though liability has not yet been determined,” said Tiger Brands in the statement.
The listeriosis outbreak began in 2017 and was officially declared over in September 2018, with 1,065 confirmed cases and at least 218 deaths.
People contracted Listeria monocytogenes infections after eating a contaminated ready-to-eat meat product called polony, made at a factory in Polokwane by Enterprise Foods. At the time, Enterprise Foods was owned by Tiger Brands, but the business was sold in 2020.
Working toward a solution
Following an appeals court decision in February 2022, pre-trial preparations have continued, including the discovery of documents and records relevant to the class action. Once all these issues have been resolved, the court will decide on a trial date. The first stage of the process will deal with liability. If the firm is found to be liable, damages will be handled at a second stage.
In January 2023, attorneys representing Tiger Brands and its insurers as well as attorneys from the plaintiff, Richard Spoor Inc., approached the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) for access to records relevant to the listeriosis outbreak.
In January 2024, NICD released files with some data relating to the outbreak investigation to the plaintiffs’ attorneys. In February, the files were shared with Tiger Brands attorneys for review. The experts’ data review is at an advanced stage but remains ongoing.
Tiger Brands said legal representatives were also working on measures to resolve the overall class action more quickly.
“The company is committed to working diligently to bring the listeriosis class action to a close as speedily as possible,” said Tiger Brands.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)
