The Department warns members of the public about fake news regarding Bananas containing helicobacter imported from Somalia

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) condemns, with the strongest possible terms, the fake news about imported bananas from Somalia. There is no banana importation that recently took place through any of our ports of entry from Somalia.

South Africa regulates the importation of plants and plant products, in terms of the Agricultural Pests Act,1983 (Act No. 36 of 1983) and its associated regulations, in a manner that such imports are subjected to inspection at the ports of entry or, depending on the protocol, the consignment can be subjected to extended detention for further inspection, before its release into the retail space. If the consignment does not comply with South African import requirements, entry into the Rebublic is not granted. Imported bananas are carefully examined by the DALRRD inspectors at the ports of entry, to ensure that there are no quarantine pests, food borne diseases or any other harmful foreign material that can negatively affect the agricultural environment/ industry and, in particular, consumers.

The department continues to be vigilant in monitoring the food products that come into the country and, any product that is suspected to be risky or harmful to the consumers or our territory cannot be permittted to enter the Republic or would be subjected to withdrawal from the shelves, if such a risk is identified post border or at retail level.

We urge all the citizens to refrain from sharing such false and malicious information that can create panic to consumers.

Source: Government of South Africa