Gauteng education, health collaborating to combat food poisoning

The Gauteng Department of Health says it is collaborating with schools and the Department of Education to combat the scourge of food poisoning incidents amongst children.

This follows the deaths of five children last week due to food poisoning.

On Sunday, the department said it was concerned about the increase in food poisoning cases especially in townships, informal settlements and hostel communities.

The department’s Acting Director for Public Health and Food Safety, Christina Mnisi, says their investigations have identified an element of pesticides in most of the food poisoning cases.

“We have implemented three programmes at the moment … in the township, informal settlements and hostels – which we call TISH … where we are doing awareness each and every month within the Gauteng province.”

“We’ve got this awareness where we are educating community members about the chemical safety, how to use the pesticides and how to store these pesticides. Because these kids, how do they access it? We are engaging with the Department of Education because we feel there are so many contributing factors that makes these kids consume the pesticides,” says Mnisi.

Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba says, “The various outbreak response teams are intensifying food safety health education and will be conducting awareness blitz in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni throughout the week.”

“This is part of continuing efforts to reduce the risk of food poisoning and by promoting safe food-handling behaviour, promoting the keeping of clean environments, and warning the public about the long-term impact of illegal dumping. [This includes] tackling compliance issues by shop owners selling perishable and non-perishable food items.”

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