Do our products contain wheat or gluten?
Some of Enterprise products contain gluten and some are gluten-free. It is important to check the ingredient-declaractions on
the packaging before purchasing the product if you suffer from any food allergies or intolerances.
If the product contains wheat starch it most likely contains small quantities of
gluten. Should the ingredients declaration only state starch, this is normally either
potato or tapioca starch.
If you are still uncertain, please feel free to contact us.
What are Polony and Viennas really made of?
This is probably the most frequently asked question as the public has been previously
misinformed. The misconception exists that Polony is made of substandard meat or
meat and other ingredients that are either unsalable or unacceptable.
Enterprise uses only wholesome meat and ingredients and our products are manufactured
to the strictest standards and fully comply with the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants
Act (Act 54 of 1972) and Regulations as well as municipal bylaws.
Most of our products do contain soya. Recent studies in the USA indicate
that the consumption of soya protein is effective in reducing the risk of coronary
heart disease, if consumed in conjunction with a fat and cholesterol restricted
diet. Furthermore, the products usually contain pork and/or beef and/or poultry
meat (chicken or turkey).
Pork fat and rinds also constitute a significant proportion of the products. Rinds
are used to give a firm texture to the product and during the cooking process this
is converted to gelatine. Other ingredients included are non-iodated salt, water,
spices and seasonings, starch, phosphates, minute quantities of nitrite (as a preservative)
and colourants.
How does Enterprise Foods ensure consistent quality?
Enterprise Foods has been HACCP Certified since 2003 and have maintained the standard ever since. We are audited annually by SABS and comply to the SANS 10330:2007 standard.
Enterprise Foods is audited for export by the State Vet from the Dpt of Agriculture annually to get ZA Certified. The State Vet inspects our facility on a monthly basis to ensure that we still comply to the regulations and the standards.
Enterprise Foods is inspected by the Dpt of Health to ensure compliance to the Health Act (i.e Regulations R918; SANS 0049, etc).
We have 3rd parties that audit our facility and processes on an annual basis on behalf of our customers e.g. IBL for Woolworths to ensure that we comply to their standards.
Enterprise Foods has a Quality Assurance (QA) department that oversees that the quality standards are met, monitoring of hygiene and food safety. The QA department conducts weekly housekeeping checks which are reported back to the factories and corrective actions are applied for any non- conformance.
We have an onsite laboratory which conducts various tests and analysis amongst which are hand swabs, surface swabs, food micro analysis, shelf life tests on all the products. We test for staph; TVC; Coliform; Ecoli; Listeria. This is to ensure that our products and food contact surfaces are within spec and of good hygiene standards.
Enterprises Foods uses the services of an approved Chemical supplier for food industries, who also does factory visits and take swab samples for analysis on a monthly basis to ensure the effectiveness of our cleaning procedures and the cleaning chemicals. Our chemical supplier provides thorough training for the cleaning teams.
Enterprise Foods receives certain raw materials from approved suppliers who are HACCP Certified, ZA Certified and who comply to the regulations and standards set out by the law. We conduct intensive facility audits prior to approving the supplier thereafter we conduct annual audits and visits just to ensure that they are still complaint.
Our suppliers provide us with Certificate of Analysis (COA) or Certificate of Compliance (COC) with every batch of raw material and packaging material we receive.
Where can the products be bought?
Enterprise products are available nationally through most retail and wholesale outlets
including Pick 'n Pay Supermarkets, Family Stores and Hypermarkets, Shoprite/Checkers,
Checkers Hyper, Spar, Kwik Spar, Super Spar, Seven Eleven, IGA Friendly Grocer, Shield, Sentra, Makro, Trade Centre and Metro.
Can people buy directly from Enterprise Factories?
Our factory shops are open to the public, please see details under 'About us – Factories –
Factory Shops'
Does Enterprise use real cheese in their products?
Yes, we only use real Cheddar cheese in our products, such as the Cheesegrillers,
Bacon and Cheese Loaf, Bacon & Cheese Viennas, Etc. In certain of these products,
a cheese flavour is also added to enhance the taste.
Are any of the products Halaal certified?
No, none of our products are Halaal certified due to the use of pork in some of
our products. However we have chicken products that do not contain any pork.
Are spreads and polony products suitable for freezing?
No. Some people do freeze polony, but this results in flavour loss and water seeping
out of the product when defrosted. It also leads to breakdown of the texture.
How do I know if this product is spoilt or off?
To ensure the delivery of fresh, safe and wholesome products to our consumers, it is imperative to maintain excellent distribution systems, of which the cold chain is a critical factor. This is vital in maintaining the freshness of all perishable products.
All products are kept refrigerated between 0 and 5 degrees throughout the packaging process, during storage and whilst orders are being assembled, awaiting loading onto trucks and while travelling to the final point of delivery. This process is termed "maintaining the cold chain". Breaking of the cold chain can have a direct effect on the product's shelf life.
The shelf life of a product is the length of time during which the product remains suitable for consumption. Food spoilage is caused by, amongst other things, bacteria which thrives at a temperature range of 10 to 45 degrees.
Indication of Food Spoilage
- Packets lose vacuum. Air has entered the packet and in the extreme cases of gas build-up, the packet blows and the packaging becomes swollen.
- Discolouration of the product.
- Undesirable or bad smell that is usually characteristic of or specific to bacteria.
- The clear liquid in the packet turns milky.
- Sour taste
- Products that are "sticky", "slimy", "milky" or "dried out"
When any of the above occurs, you should immediately inform the store you purchased it from or contact the Enterprise Foods consumer line, in order for us to rectify this break in the cold chain and to reimburse you for your purchase.