NCC issues compliance notices to 45 suppliers over food safety violations
Image: Kamogelo Moichela/IOL
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has issued Compliance Notices to 45 suppliers across South Africa for breaking consumer protection laws.
This follows inspections that found expired food, missing expiry dates, poor labelling, no pricing on items, and a failure to give proper receipts.
Last year, several children died after consuming snacks contaminated with toxic pesticide, drawing attention to food safety issues.
"This violates Section 55(2) of the CPA, which guarantees consumers the right to safe, usable and good quality goods. Date markings assist consumers in determining the shelf life and safety of the products before making any purchase," the NCC said.
During these inspections, the NCC discovered that some suppliers were selling expired and spoiled food items, including dairy products, meat products, and maize meal.
"The NCC discovered that some suppliers were selling expired and spoiled food items, including dairy products, meat products, maize meal, eggs, snacks, biscuits, and noodles. In some cases, items had no expiry or best-before dates (date markings).
"Some suppliers continue to sell products like wors, chicken pieces, and other foodstuffs without the proper labelling"
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The consumer watchdog also emphasised that, according to the CPA, a trade description must be applied to goods or their packaging, and labels must not contain misleading information.
"The NCC further discovered that suppliers, especially in rural and peri–urban areas, displayed goods like noodles, sugar, soup and canned foods without any visible pricing".
Suppliers have been instructed to remove any unsafe products from their inventory, ensure that all goods are properly labeled and priced, and issue accurate receipts that comply with legal requirements.
"Should any businesses fail to adhere to the terms of the Compliance Notices, the NCC may refer them to the National Consumer Tribunal (Tribunal). The Tribunal may impose an administrative fine of up to R1 million or 10% of the supplier's annual turnover".
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
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