A food safety and compliance blitz uncovered alarming violations in Kagiso, Mogale City, during the Gauteng Provincial Government Integrated Service Delivery Operations.
Environmental Health Practitioners from the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH), in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Economic Development and local municipalities, conducted surprise inspections at several shops and tuck-shops in the area. The operation revealed a disturbing trend of expired food items, rotten meat, and food with forged labelling and expiry dates being sold to unsuspecting community members.
One tuck-shop was immediately shut down after failing to comply with any of the required health and safety standards. Officials described the conditions as "completely unacceptable and dangerous to public health."
Christina Mnisi, Deputy Director for Environmental Health at the GDoH said that all food staff must be packaged with proper labels as she was reacting to the many health hazards found in the shop that was closed. 
"Any food staff packaged and sold must have an address, telephone number, active ingredients, batch number and best before date or expiry date. This will assist with tracing the product in case there are incidences," said Mnisi. 
The Integrated Service Delivery Operations forms part of a broader provincial strategy to improve service delivery and create safer communities through multi-agency collaboration. 
Since the occurrence of a series of food safety concerns across the province, government authorities have intensifying efforts to ensure that all food vendors meet the necessary hygiene and compliance standards. Currently, 898 food borne illness incidents have reported with confirmed 30 deaths as a result in Gauteng. 
While conducting inspections at another shop that sells takeaways (food), the inspectors found out that amongst other things, the oil used to make the chips, fat-cakes (amagwinya) and some of the processed food sold including russians, was outdated - repeated many times and looked very dirty. 
"Oil should be changed frequently as possible before it changes its colour. All food premises must be free from Consumers must not buy dented or rusted and leaking tins and they carry gems.
"We also encourage vendors to ensure that all foodstuff is kept away from cleaning detergent to avoid contamination, and pesticides must not be kept near food to avoid cross contamination," said Mnisi. 
In addition, Mnisi encouraged communities to report any suspicious or unsafe food-selling practices to their local health departments or municipalities.