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Blue-chip sausages in frying pan
By Nadia Fazlulhaq
Salmonella, the bacteria that cause the dreaded Salmonellosis infection has been found - twice - in sausages produced by one of the country's largest food manufacturers, but efforts to bring the company to court have failed, and its products continue to be freely advertised and sold, top officials said.

Colombo’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Prasanna Kariyawasam said the blue-chip company had been hauled to court twice since last December, but it was avoiding court, and continuing to sell its products to unsuspecting consumers.
CMC’s Public Health Inspector Gamini Ranasinghe said they had filed four cases under the Food Act, but the company was not present in court and warrants were issued but no further action was taken. The cases are to come up for hearing again next month.

Laboratory tests performed by the Government's Medical Research Institute (MRI) have proved - twice - that raw sausages manufactured by this company contained Salmonella, a disease that causes severe diarrhoeal ailments in humans, the officials said.

According to these MRI reports, the first test on these sausages of a particular brand marketed by this company proved positive of containing the Salmonella bacteria. A second random test of products of this same brand taken from the shelves of four different supermarkets, showed three of them to contain the Salmonella germ, they said.

“We are sending further samples to the MRI for tests, as we are concerned about the raw sausage consumption, especially in the city,” Dr. Kariyawasam said.

Dr. Kariyawasam also said Public Health Inspectors had in recent weeks raided some 180 hotels and food outlets in Colombo and the conditions in 75 percent of them were found to be unsanitary. He said warning letters had been sent to these outlets.

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