2 days ago
Peanut butter maker to pay R500k penalty for contaminated products
Peanut butter manufacturer House of Natural Butters has agreed to pay an administrative fine of R500,000 after the National Consumer Commission (NCC) received recall notifications in February 2024 from Dis-Chem and Pick n Pay due to elevated levels of aflatoxin found in certain peanut butter.
NCC spokesperson Phetho Ntaba said the NCC found that the affected products had higher than legally acceptable levels of aflatoxin as set out under R1145 Regulation Governing Tolerance of Fungus-Produced Toxins in foodstuffs.
Ntaba said their investigation found that between May and November 2023, House of Natural Butters imported and supplied contaminated, decayed and impure groundnuts and byproducts to South African consumers through various retailers.
In its ruling the National Consumer Tribunal noted that the manufacturer imported the products from Malawi and Zambia using trucks and trailers, via land borders and port entries. It said the trucks and trailers did not have the requisite certificates of acceptability required for the transportation of food.
'Laboratory tests results from various accredited food testing laboratories established that the products were contaminated, decayed and impure,' said Ntaba.
