Consumer commission confirms listeria link in recalled hummus

2 Oct 2024

The National Consumer Commission says it is unaware of any illness linked to the recall of the Shoprite Checkers brand of Deli Hummus, which at first was pulled off the market for unspecified “microbial contamination”.

The National Consumer Commission has confirmed that the recent hummus recall was linked to the detection of listeria.

On 17 September 2024, Shoprite Checkers issued a voluntary recall of its Deli Hummus range, manufactured by BM Foods — a division of the Sea Harvest Group — after unspecified “microbial contamination” was detected in three batches with sell-by dates of between 10 September and 8 October 2024.

The affected products included the following:

Traditional Hummus (125g and 300g).

Reduced Fat Hummus (125g).

Za’atar Hummus (125g and 300g).

Red Pepper Hummus (125g and 300g).

Caramelised Onion Hummus (125g).

In a company statement, Shoprite apologised for any inconvenience caused by the recall and advised customers to stop consuming the products and return them for a full refund.

The retailer said its food scientists and technologists were working closely with its supplier and the National Consumer Commission on the recall.

“We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of food safety, ensuring that only top-quality products reach our customers.”

On Wednesday, the National Consumer Commission revealed that it had been notified the previous day (16 September) about the issue, and that in line with Section 60 of the Consumer Protection Act, an interim investigation pointed to “some areas of concern” on product handling at the manufacturing level.

“However, the National Consumer Commission awaits a final report from Shoprite Checkers. Parallel to the said in-house processes, the commission is independently investigating the recalled products on identified operational issues that pertain to food safety.”

The commission’s acting commissioner, Hardin Ratshisusu, said “at this stage, the National Consumer Commission is not able to determine the extent of the distribution of the products as this is the subject of an investigation. Suppliers are urged not to distribute these products further until the investigation is finalised.”

The commission’s spokesperson, Phetho Ndaba, said they were unaware of any sickness related to the hummus.

There have been numerous outbreaks of food-born disease linked to refrigerated ready-to-eat dips and tahini in particular — the latter being the sesame paste that is a key ingredient in hummus and tahina, a sesame sauce. DM

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