Notice : Canned Pilchards From South Africa Unfit For Human Consumption
A deficiency in the canning process was introduced during the sauce-filling step in the production of canned pilchards which makes the product unfit for human consumption.
This has resulted in a countrywide recall by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications.
The affected brands are Deep Catch, Mammas, OK Housebrand, Prime Ocean, Spar, Sunny, Shoprite Ritebrand, Cape Point, Checkers Housebrand, U Brand, Saldanha and West Point.
The products bear the markings starting with ZST29 and ZSC29 on top of the can. About 5% or 10% of the products were still on the market, she said. However, they had already recalled around 90% of the products.
It said the discovery prompted an investigation into the safety of the canned food.
However, zimtrending learnt that this outbreak does not only affect one company. South Africa being the most travelled to country by Zimbabwean who are doing grocery shopping is potentially at risk of accessing these products.
Despite this being a potential PR nightmare, it remains to be seen how the company is going to deal and compensate affected parties. Back in 2018, Enterprise foods in South Africa was identified as the source of the world’s largest outbreak of listeria.
At the time, it was reported that as of March 2019, the company estimated the cost of the recall would be up to R377-million, and it faces legal claims from consumers made ill by its food of R435-million.
No formal communication has been communicated to compensate for the affected.
Below is the Notice
