Independent laboratory KLM High-Giene Solutions has released the final results of its extensive microbiological tests, which prove that Richester Foods’ XPOP lollipops did not play any role in a recent food poisoning incident at a school market day in KwaZulu-Natal.
Notably, after launching an urgent investigation into accusations against the XPOP lollipops earlier this month, Richester Foods immediately traced the lollipops’ product batch and submitted samples from this batch for independent external analysis. KLM High-Giene Solutions 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 in KZN and the school’s management, and Richester Foods is again urging the school and health authorities to investigate other causes for the scare.
“The school has confirmed that the children ate a range of goods that day. However, the symptoms reported by the children were unusually severe for alleged food poisoning, and we have not received any other complaints regarding that product batch of lollipops,” says Richester Foods’ Managing Director Hussein Cassim.
“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.”
Founded in 2005, Richester Foods is a South African sweets manufacturer with manufacturing facilities in Centurion where it produces over 7,0000 sweets every minute, ranging from chocolates, marshmallows and sherbet to toffees, pressed candies, mint candies and bubble gum. The company also produces six lines of lollipops, including chewy-filled, bubblegum-filled and sherbet-filled lollipops.
“As a proudly South African sweet maker, we are pleased that the laboratory results have once again cleared our products and reaffirmed their quality, as well as confirming the strength of our manufacturing standards. 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.”
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