Staff Reporter
THE Top Score vanilla-flavoured porridge was declared safe after Namib Mills withdrew the product from Namibia and South African shelves. Independent testing of their Top Score Instant Porridge, the results have confirmed that the products are safe for consumption.
An independent laboratory conducted a series of rigorous tests, including pesticide analysis: testing for over 200 different pesticides to ensure none were detected.
This comes after news surfaced that three children died in the Eastern Cape after allegedly consuming the vanilla-flavoured soft porridge.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Namib Mills Senior Brand Manager Marne Bouwer said that Namib Mills temporarily recalled all variants of Top Score Instant Porridge from its markets in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, and Zambia last month.
According to Bouwer, even though there is no evidence linking their products to this isolated incident, they took this step out of an of caution to ensure consumer safety and confidence.
“Following the tragic incident in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, we also sent our products for rigorous testing to an independent, SANAS-accredited laboratory in South Africa,” she said.
She added that SANAS accreditation certificates are formal recognition by the Government of South Africa that an organization is competent to perform specific tasks.
Bouwer indicated that the results confirm that Top Score Instant Porridge is safe for consumption. This testing encompassed not only the specific batch in question—06/08/2024—but also multiple batches across different flavours and production dates, to further reassure consumers and stakeholders that their product poses no health risk and complies with the highest standards in food safety.
In addition to the batch in question, the tests were also applied to the following batches and flavours: Maize 09/10/2023, Strawberry 03/01/2024, Banana 02/05/2024, Peanut Butter 23/05/2024, Toffee Caramel 28/05/2024, Banana 27/05/2024, Maize 29/05/2024, Toffee Caramel 05/08/2024, Vanilla 19/08/2024, and Vanilla 27/09/2024.
“The test results confirm that our product batches across all variants (flavours) are free from harmful contaminants and comply with the highest standards of food safety,” she added.
She stressed that Top Score Instant Porridge is entirely safe for human consumption.
