EFF won't compromise on polony, it must all go

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is refusing to take any chances and is removing as much polony and other cold meats as it can from fridges of different supermarkets.

One member posted a picture of EFF members filling up trolleys and buckets with all sorts of cold meats from a Shoprite store‚ believed to be in the south of Johannesburg.

"We helping them get rid of poisonous food since they failing [sic]‚" the pictures were captioned.

Shoprite however‚ responded to the tweet‚ saying none of the products that the EFF had removed from the shelves were Enterprise or Rainbow products which were said to be the carriers of the deadly disease.

"All Enterprise processed cold meats & Rainbow chicken polony have been removed from our fridges and deli’s [sic]. The products still on shelf are not manufactured by these suppliers. See the list of recalled products here‚" Shoprite tweeted.

Some of the items removed by the group included the Shoprite brand of cold meats.

While others took to Twitter to criticise the party‚ others said this was a good move as they said it was unclear who was behind the production of the Shoprite brand.

Earlier‚ The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) made claims that Pick n Pay had responded with arrogance to the call to remove all listeria-tainted products.

The party had called on the public to visit its outlets and “help” them remove such items‚ with EFF national spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi saying the action should be extended to “other retail stores‚ like Shoprite‚ Woolworths and others”.

“Fighters across the country‚ together with all South Africans‚ must help managers and staff of these retail stores to remove listeriosis products from our shelves.”

The party has also demanded that Pick n Pay refund all customers returning their products‚ even those without receipts.

“It is very clear that no one would keep a receipt if they did not intend on returning the product. It is only noble to accept this to be the case‚ and refund customers.” Ndlozi said.

TimesLIVE phoned Pick n Pay’s customer care hotline and asked if we could return products in the recall without a receipt – and you already can.

Polony and a list of other Enterprise products from its Polokwane and Germiston factories were identified by the Department of Health as the source of the world’s largest outbreak of listeriosis.

Pick n Pay group executive for strategy and corporate affairs David North reassured customers that all contaminated products have been removed from their outlets. He said the safety of their customers was a primary concern.

“We removed all affected products produced by Enterprise and Rainbow Foods Limited immediately after the minister’s announcement on Sunday. All our butchery‚ deli areas and fridges have been sanitised following the recall to avoid any risk of cross-contamination.

“Customers can be reassured that all products available in our stores are fresh and are safe to eat. No cooked meats currently sold in Pick n Pay are supplied by Enterprise or Rainbow Foods Limited‚” North said.

He said customers were welcome to return food items bought at Pick n Pay for a full refund.