Pick n Pay issues national recall of 3 brands of peanut butter due to safety concerns

CAPE TOWN - Pick n Pay announced on Saturday that it was recalling three peanut butter brands from its shelves countrywide. 

The retailer said it had found higher-than-regulated levels of Aflatoxin, which it described as a naturally-occurring toxin. 

According to the World Health Organzation, large doses of Aflatoxin can lead to poisoning and can be life-threatening.

The three brands are the No Name Smooth Peanut Butter, Eden Smooth Peanut Butter and Eden Crunch Peanut Butter. 

"The health and safety of our customers is our priority. Customers who might have bought these peanut butter products are urged to return them to Pick n Pay for a full refund if any product has an expiry date between now and July 2025," Pick n Pay said in a statement. 

"If any customer has concerns, they are quite welcome to return these products whether or not they fall within this expiry date, or whether products have been opened or not." 

The retailer said it had informed both the health department and the National Consumer Commission. 

"Following in-house standard testing, these products were found to have higher than regulated levels of Aflatoxin, which may constitute a health risk," the statement said. 

"Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring mycotoxin, but the levels we detected were higher than the regulatory threshold." 

Customers were urged to return the products to a Pick n Pay store in order to qualify for a full refund or to call its Customer Care Line on 0860 303 030.