Food Contamination Concerns Discovered at Hill Milling Company Limited: Health Officials Monitor Situation, Chief Medical Officer Assures Public Safety
July 12, 2024
Environmental health officers found evidence of food contamination at Hill Milling Company, potentially leading to shutdown. Chief Medical Officer confirms disease outbreak containment and ongoing monitoring for public health safety.
Environmental health officers have discovered evidence of food supply contamination at Hill Milling Company Limited, prompting warnings of a potential shutdown, the chief medical officer has revealed.
And while expressing commitment to protecting public health, CMO Dr Kenneth George has revealed for the first time that a disease outbreak during the T20 World Cup had been contained, declaring “there was no risk to the public”.
The Haggatt Hall food and packaging manufacturing plant faced closure a year ago after health authorities uncovered a rat infestation, resulting in the disposal of more than half a million dollars worth of food items.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George said on Wednesday that whilst closure would be a last resort, his ministry would take necessary action to ensure public health safety.
Health officials conducted investigations at the plant over the weekend following reports of a health-related issue. Dr George told Barbados TODAY: “The ministry continues to monitor the situation at Hill Milling, and we will continue to work with them to address the issues. As I speak, they have made some improvement in the environmental conditions at the plant; and we will continue to work with them.”
He added that no food items had been discarded this time around so far.
Dr George stressed that the Ministry of Health does not take business closures lightly: “We should have good evidence before we go that route. We believe that there are opportunities for us to reverse some of the threats, using good public health interventions; and we will continue to work with the management and staff of Hills, to try to see how we can work through this issue… we will only use closure as a last resort.”
When asked to specify the health concern, Dr George replied: “The issue is that there was evidence of contamination of some of the food supply. You know before that there was a rat infestation; that is public knowledge, but the Ministry of Health at the same time, will not ever allow food to be put on the market, which we feel is contaminated.”
The chief medical officer then disclosed a previously unreported disease outbreak during last month’s ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup at Kensington Oval. He highlighted the government’s seriousness in protecting public health by detailing how the situation was managed.
He said: “During World Cup, there was a significant public health spread at World Cup. And I can report to the public that we did fairly well with respect to prevention of disease in the population. We put in a monitoring system that gave real-time information on disease and sickness at the Oval and other cricketing arenas.
“And I can report that there was no untoward incident out of the normal. But things will happen, once you have people gathering. But there was no risk to the public.”
Dr George did not specify the health hazard or its source.
Drawing parallels with the authorities’ approach to the World Cup outbreak, he reiterated the government’s intention to continue monitoring Hill Milling.
“I was saying that we as a ministry take our roles and responsibilities extremely seriously. We took a system in the case of World Cup to protect the public; and in the case of Hill, we will work with them and make sure that the public health is not at risk. We can use closures from time to time, but we are not there yet,” the CMO said.
“I was trying to link it with the World Cup in the sense that we were able to, with a lot of different exposures, we were able to manage it fairly well. We had a surveillance system, which is real-time. We got real-time information about what was happening at the Oval, and places around the Oval. And, as I said, I can report to the public that there was nothing untoward that took place during Cricket World Cup.”
In response to the latest investigation, Richard Ashby, CEO of Hill Milling, downplayed the health officials’ visit, telling Barbados TODAY: “I don’t have any issues.” When questioned about the reason for the inspection, Ashby stated: “That’s their privilege to check and check and check as they want,” adding: “They [health officials] don’t have to give a reason [for examination], [that] this is a food place.”
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
