Listeriosis: Tiger Brands to cooperate with class action - but maintains it's not guilty yet

Tiger Brands [JSE:TBS] says it will follow the legal process to bring closure to all parties, after the South Gauteng High Court allowed the initiation of a class action suit over an outbreak of listeriosis earlier this year. 

No liability has been established yet, the company reiterated. 

The court determined that Richard Spoor Attorneys could go ahead with its class action application representing over a thousand people affected by the listeriosis outbreak that infected as many people and killed 200.

Tiger Brands chief corporate affairs officer Mary Jane Morifi said in a statement that the company would support the class action notice process to ensure that anyone with a legitimate claim could be informed of the class action.

• READ: UPDATE: Court rules that listeriosis class action can go ahead

In the statement, which was released shortly after the company's SENS announcement affirming the certification of the class action application, Tiger Brands said it was still to be determined whether or not Tiger Brands was at fault in the eyes of the court for those affected by listeriosis.

"Tiger Brands reiterates that no liability has been established against the company for the listeriosis outbreak.

"However, should liability be determined, the company will respond appropriately to any legitimate claims," the statement said.

Morifi said the R1m that the company extended to assist in supporting the class action process, and a hotline to facilitate it, was a sign that the company was committed to finding a resolution for everyone affected.