South Africans can continue eating commercially canned sardines despite the detection of pilchard herpesvirus (PHV) in wild sardine populations, the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment (DFFE) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) said in a joint statement issued on Thursday.
The authorities said PHV is a “disease of sardines” and is not known to infect humans or animals, with no evidence that it causes illness in people.
They did, however, warn the public not to collect, eat or feed dead or dying sardines to pets if they are found on beaches or floating near the shore because the fish may have begun to decompose and could harbour harmful bacteria or other microorganisms.
The department said that following the detection of PHV in South African sardine populations, it had initiated an investigation into the disease and its effects on the wild sardine resource, in line with its mandate over disease control and primary production.
Subsequent investigations confirmed that PHV is not known to affect humans. Given the resulting food-safety questions, the NRCS, whose mandate covers the processing of fishery products and the food safety of products intended for human consumption, was brought into the response.
“Considering public concern and conflicting information circulating regarding the safety of sardine products, DFFE and NRCS wish to jointly clarify their respective positions on the risk this disease poses to human health and food safety.”
“PHV is a disease of sardines, also known as pilchards. It is not known to infect humans or animals and there is no evidence that it causes illness in people. The detection of PHV in sardines does not mean that sardines are poisonous, toxic or that they are infectious to humans or animals.”
The department and the NRCS said commercially caught sardines and sardines found dead or dying on beaches must, however, be clearly distinguished.
Sardines used for commercial canning are freshly caught by fishing vessels and handled under controlled hygienic conditions. The canning facilities that process them are approved and inspected by the NRCS under the Compulsory Specification for Canned Fish, Canned Marine Molluscs and Canned Crustaceans, issued in terms of the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act.
No canning facility may produce and sell fish products in South Africa without this approval, which is subject to annual reassessment and ongoing inspection.
“As part of this mandate, the NRCS verifies that the commercial heat-treatment (retort/sterilisation) process applied during canning meets the validated time-and-temperature standard required to destroy viruses, including PHV, along with other spoilage-causing and pathogenic microorganisms.
“It is this verified process rather than the absence of the virus in the wild sardine population that provides the basis for confidence in canned sardine products. Accordingly, there is no reason to discontinue the consumption of commercially produced canned sardines.
The agencies urged the public not to collect, handle, eat or feed to pets any dead or dying sardines found on beaches or floating near the shore.
“This advice is not because the fish are considered inherently harmful, but because there is no way of knowing how long a stranded fish has been dead, how far decomposition has progressed internally, or the extent of contamination by harmful microorganisms.”
A sardine may still look relatively fresh on the outside while decomposition is already advanced inside and such fish may harbour harmful bacteria or other microorganisms capable of causing illness.
“Consuming a beach-collected fish may therefore pose a risk to consumer health, in contrast to sardines processed and canned under NRCS-approved conditions.
The agencies, as well as the small pelagic fishing industry, would continue to monitor the situation and provide updated information on sardine mortalities as it becomes available.