Tiger Brands Beverage factory in Germiston.
Tiger Brands this week was called out by victims of the listeriosis outbreak, where the company had a class action lawsuit filed against it.
According to reports, victims in the lawsuit want the food producer to admit liability and settle their class action.
Richard Spoor Incorporated represents the victims in the case, who said it has been six years since the outbreak.
Spoor Incorporated further highlighted that the matter has not ended up in court yet.
In response to Spoor’s office, Tiger Brands told Business Report that the 2018 listeriosis outbreak affected many South Africans.
“We are saddened by the impact which listeriosis has had and continues to have on the lives of the victims and those who have lost loved ones from the outbreak. We reiterate our commitment to ensure a resolution of the listeriosis class action lawsuit is reached in the shortest possible time, in the interest of all parties, particularly the victims of listeriosis,” the company said in a statement.
“As part of the overall endeavours to expedite a resolution, Tiger Brands’ legal team and the plaintiffs’ attorneys jointly approached the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) for access to their records relevant to the listeriosis outbreak. These records are vital to a determination of the class action,” Tiger Brands said.
The food producer said that in February 2024, the NICD tendered the FASTQ files relating to their investigation of the outbreak to the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the class action.
“These FASTQ files were shared with the attorneys representing the company’s insurers for review by their appointed experts. The experts’ review of the files remains ongoing. Tiger Brands’ legal team and the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the class action continue to attend to pretrial preparations to get the matter ready for trial, where liability will be determined by the court,” the company further stated.
“The court will allocate a trial date once all necessary pretrial procedures have been attended to and the matter is ready to proceed to trial. As the lawsuit is currently pending before the courts, Tiger Brands is not in a position to comment further,” the food producer stated.
BUSINESS REPORT