New regulations to protect the South African consumer against health and safety risks posed by the production of processed meat products will come into effect on October 8.

These new regulations are intended to enable the inspection of processing plants to avoid a similar outbreak to that of listeriosis from mid-2017 to March 2018, which resulted in the deaths of a number of people, as well as the closure of some processing plants.

The new regulations follow an agreement between the departments of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and Health on the final publication of the Compulsory Specification for Processed Meat Products.

The new regulations will be enforced by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS), an entity reporting to the DTIC.

After extensive stakeholder consultation, the final Compulsory Specification for Processed Meat Products, was gazetted on August 8, to come into force two months from the date of publication.

The aim of this compulsory specification is to effectively regulate those categories of processed meat products that are considered as high risk, in order to protect the health and safety of consumers, a statement from the DTIC said on Monday.

The statement further noted that the DTIC would work with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to coordinate the enforcement of the new regulations in terms of the Agricultural Product Standards Act.

The NRCS is setting up an extensive regulatory programme of inspections throughout the country, which will enable government and industry to detect any food borne bugs early.

Government will continue to make improvements to food safety to ensure that consumers can rely on the food products that the local industry is producing, the statement averred.

Commenting on the new regulations, Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said it was “an important step” in ensuring that consumers are protected against harmful food-borne bacteria.

“Our food industry is important to the country’s economic development and job creation,” he added, noting that jobs in the food industry must be secured through measures that provide consumers with appropriate protection.

Because of this, a task team will be established, and will comprise officials from the three departments to be nominated to consider a dedicated Food Safety Authority for the country.

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize added that “this denotes an era of governance where there is effective multi-sectoral collaboration to protect our people from environmental dangers whilst at the same time protecting food and job security”.