A security officer holds a XPOP Energy Cola Fizz lollipop in his hand. 40 pupils from a Verulam primary school exhibited signs of food poisoning after they allegedly consumed XPOP Energy Cola Fizz lollipops at school. Picture: Reaction Units South Africa (Rusa)
Durban - Richester Foods confirmed on Thursday that final test results from independent laboratory KLM High-Giene Solutions show that the XPop Energy Cola Fizz lollipops did not play a role in the recent health scare at a school in Verulam.
Earlier this month it was reported that 40 pupils approached educators and complained of severe abdominal pains, breathing difficulties and nausea after consuming the lollipops bought at the school’s market day. The affected children ranged in age from five to 13.
In a statement on November 24, the confectionery manufacturer’s managing director, Dr Hussein Cassim, said the final results of its extensive microbiological tests show that Richester Foods’ XPOP lollipops did not play any role in a recent food poisoning incident at a school market day in KwaZulu-Natal.
This comes after preliminary tests failed to detect any bacterial contamination or causes that could relate to ill health over two weeks ago.
Cassim said the laboratory performed comprehensive testing on the products but did not detect any possible contaminants.
“The laboratory’s final results have been shared with the office of the Consumer Protector and Richester Foods is again urging the school in KZN and the school and health authorities to investigate other causes for the scare,” he said.
Cassim said the school has confirmed that the children ate a range of goods that day.
He said the symptoms reported by the children were unusually severe for alleged food poisoning and that the company has not received any other complaints regarding that product batch of lollipops.
"So, in the interests of those children who have been affected, we sincerely hope that the relevant authorities will find the true cause for their illness to prevent incidents like this from happening again.
“Children and the health of our consumers are always our top priority, which is why we take food safety so seriously. We produce thousands of sweets every minute which are eaten by thousands of consumers across the country, and we are grateful that these final test results can once again give all our customers complete peace of mind in the absolute safety and quality of our products,” said Cassim.
He said as a proudly South African sweet maker, Richester Foods are pleased that the laboratory results have once again cleared its products.
The results reaffirmed the quality and confirmed the strength of the manufacturing standards, he added.
“We are also very grateful to our many customers and clients for their support over the past two weeks, and we hope that all the children impacted by this unfortunate event will get well soon,” said Cassim.