More brands hit by pilchards recall and the chilli sauce variant, too

It’s not just West Point Processors’ tinned pilchards in tomato sauce that has been recalled, but their pilchards in chilli sauce as well — sold by retailers countrywide under 12 brands, the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) announced on Monday night.

That’s because the product was “compromised’ on the production line when the sauce was added to the fish in the can, and “therefore could affect the safety of consumers”, the NRCS said.

The affected products include not only the Shoprite group’s house brands, but the Spar house brand pilchards as well, all bearing the production codes ZST29 or ZSC29 on top of the can.

“The problem manifests itself after months of storage, which causes the content of the can to react with the metal of the can,” the NRCS said.

The regulator made no mention of bloating tins.

At the weekend, West Point Processors announced a recall of its pilchards in tomato sauce 400g tins, but was silent about its chilli variant.

Customers who’ve purchased the cans were urged to return them for a refund.

The company said there was a small possibility that some tins in the specified batch may have a “canning deficiency”, which could make them “unfit for consumption”.

Whereas Westpoint named six products as being part of its recall — Cape Point, Saldanha, Shoprite Ritebrand, Checkers Housebrand, U-brand and OK Housebrand — and only the Tomato Sauce variant, the NRCS has named nine brands and said both the Tomato Sauce and Chilli Sauce variants are part of the recall.

The full list is:

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

The NRCS, which regulates the manufacture, production and treatment of canned fish, is now “imploring” formal wholesalers, retailers and informal traders to remove and stop selling the 400g Pilchards in Tomato Sauce and 400g Pilchards in Chilli Sauce with immediate effect.

“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,” the regulator said.

GET IN TOUCH: You can contact Wendy Knowler for advice with your consumer issues via e-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler.