Two Tafelsig teenagers were hospitalised after allegedly eating chips they bought at a local house shop, prompting their parents to call for swift action from health inspectors.
Ashlyn Johnson and Zhiwario van Rooyen, both 17, became ill last Saturday.
The teens said they had last consumed Cannon Ball Maize Nakks, which they bought from the A2Z Cash Store located near Ruwenzori Street.
Ashlyn’s father Heinrich Isaacs says he was shocked to find his son unable to move just before 7pm.
Heinrich explains: “He had no feeling in his body. He couldn’t walk. He threw up as well. When I asked him what he ate, he said they ate the chips last.”
Ashlyn was given intravenous fluids, and a doctor later diagnosed him with food poisoning.
Heinrich says: “The important thing is that he is out of danger, and he is recovering well.”
Zhiwario’s mother Zenzia Klaase adds: “I would like to have the health inspector please do something about the matter.”
In response, a shopkeeper named Sumsoon says the chips were not the cause of the boys’ illness, suggesting they might have “smoked something” before eating the chips.
But the boys’ parents dismissed these allegations, saying their sons are “well-behaved churchgoers who do not smoke or drink”.
Heinrich says: “They took blood samples, and the results showed his blood was clean.”
According to Western Cape Department of Health spokesperson, Monique Johnstone, the test results for food poisoning came back negative, and the matter has now been refereed to the City’s Environmental Health officials for further investigation.
When the Daily Voice stopped by the winkel yesterday, a health inspector was on site. The inspector took two packets of Cannon Ball Maize Nakks for testing and advised Sumsoon not to sell any more of the chips until the test results come in.