Pilchards recall expanded: here's what you need to know

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) said on Monday that more pilchard products than initially announced were affected by a “canning deficiency”.

Here's what you need to know:

First recall announcement

On Sunday, manufacturer West Point Processors called on consumers of tomato sauce-flavoured pilchards in 400g cans to return them for a refund. The company said affected brands were Shoprite, Checkers and OK.

Reason for recall

West Point Processors cited a “canning deficiency” which may cause the products to be  unfit for human consumption as the reason for the recall.

The company said it was working on identifying the cause of the deficiency and that the affected cans had been isolated in its factory.

Identification

The 400g cans can be identified using batch codes starting with ZST2 and ZSC2. The regulator said on Monday they were manufactured in 2019 by the Cape Town-based company.

More recalls, more brands affected 

By Monday night, the regulator announced that more brands were affected by the recall, including chilli sauce-flavoured pilchards.

Here's a full list of brands that have been recalled:

• Deep Catch
• Mammas
• Prime Ocean
• Spar
• Sunny
• Shoprite Ritebrand
• Cape Point
• Checkers Housebrand
• U Brand
• Saldanha
• West Point
• OK Housebrand.

Preventive measures 

The NRCS asked retailers and wholesalers to remove the affected cans from their shelves.

“We are engaging all role players to ensure that the affected products are removed from the market to protect consumers against unsafe products, in line with our mandate,” it said in a statement.