UAE – The UAE has ordered the withdrawal of pepperoni beef from supermarkets following “investigation of potential contamination with listeria monocytogenes bacteria,” the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCE) confirmed on Saturday.
MoCCE is working with local regulatory authorities and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority. It did not identify the producing company but said “coordination is taking place to precautionarily withdraw the affected product from UAE markets until laboratory examinations are completed and the details of the incident are verified.”
The bacteria, which is transmitted when food is processed, prepared, or packed, causes listeria infection — a foodborne bacterial illness that can be very serious for pregnant women, people older than 65, and people with weakened immune systems.
Highest safety standards
MoCCAE assured that a Gulf Rapid Alert System for Food (GRASF) is in place to facilitate the immediate exchange of information about health-threatening food products across the GCC countries. The system helps manage food risk alerts, as well as banning and lifting of bans on contaminated and mislabelled food. It is also used to communicate with GCC countries to take preventive measures and effectively protect consumer health.
Dr Mohammed Salman Al Hamadi, MOCCAE assistant undersecretary for food diversity, assured the “ministry is working with various relevant authorities to apply the highest food safety standards to all food products in the country, whether locally produced or imported.”
He added, “the ministry is intensifying its investigations regarding the mentioned product to ensure its safety for consumption as quickly as possible.”
Al Hamadi confirmed that laboratory and field teams are currently collecting additional samples for testing in specialised labs, concurrently with the product’s removal from all markets in the UAE.
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