It all started last month when three children, including a 4-month-old baby, died after eating noodles.
A week earlier, two Mpumalanga siblings also died allegedly after sharing a packet of instant noodles.
According to police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu, three Eastern Cape children had accompanied their grandparents on a visit to relatives in New Brighton where they stayed over, and one of the kids, an 11-year-old girl, bought a packet of 2-minute noodles.
“She then cooked the noodles, and the three children ate it before returning to Motherwell.
“When they arrived home in Motherwell, the 11-year-old complained of nausea. Her grandmother gave her some water to drink.
“The 7-year-old also complained of stomach cramps and nausea. While being driven with private transport to the Motherwell clinic, they passed away.
“Shortly after the two children left for the hospital, the baby also passed away while en route to the hospital in another vehicle,” said Naidu .
Since then, consumers have been scared to purchase noodles and those who already bought them have been scared to consume them.
To make matters worse, there is a picture of an unappetising dish of noodles that is doing the rounds on social media.
Posted by @Carolinerathabe on Twitter, the picture shows cooked Ever Roka noodles with some parts of the noodles showing a greyish colour. Sending a warning to those who still want to cook noodles, @Carolinerathabe writes in the caption, “Be careful when preparing noodles”.
Be careful when preparing noodles pic.twitter.com/FkbAmkPtTi
Twitter users were disgusted with the picture, with many saying that people should not buy food and unknown places.
Here are some of the reactions:
I ate 3packs same time nge Monday ,almost vomited at work and I asked myself why nkos'yami pic.twitter.com/Cx4D6fGQZd
The problem is that we not eating food anymore we eating food-like products, the like of TigerBrands must educate people about fake food products since our own gov has failed us otherwise kuzofa abantu in our townships
— Hulumeni (@Gcinna4) December 2, 2021
At this point i dont even look at noodles at shelves i pass as quickly as i can 🤷🏾♂️😟🤷🏾♂️
— IRVIN (@Irvin_KK) December 2, 2021
Green Home company, which produces Ever Roka instant noodles, had not responded to a request for comments at the time of publishing.