Cansa denies partnership with torso-shaped hot sauce brand

The Cancer Association of SA (Cansa) has not entered into a partnership with Calisto's Sauces to receive donations from the sale its torso-shaped sauce bottles.

After complaints on social media urging The Sauce Kitchen to rethink its male and female torso-shaped packaging‚ the company said it would remove it from the Calisto's brand. It also said it would donate a portion of the proceeds of sales of old bottles still on the shelves to Cansa.

However Cansa told TimesLIVE on Tuesday that it had not been approached by the food company with any offers of donations.

Cansa spokesperson Lucy Balona said that before forming a partnership‚ an assessment of the product and its ingredients would have to be made.

"At Cansa‚ we’re conscious of always sharing information and education that will help the public with lowering their cancer risk. We’re careful to ensure that we partner with products that align with our healthy message.

"In this case‚ we were not approached by Calisto’s and no such partnership exists‚" she said.

The Sauce Kitchen told the Sunday Times last week that it chose to donate to Cansa for the sake of awareness.

"The most common cancer in females is breast cancer and prostate for males – this fact is well known‚ and yet when last did you go for a mammogram or a prostate exam?

"We have received a complaint about our bottles‚ and we choose to see this as an opportunity to spread awareness‚ as well as give funding to Cansa‚" it said.

According to the company‚ the product range was about making "healthier choices".

"And so on the theme of health‚ we decided there was no better association to align ourselves with‚" it told the Sunday Times.