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Business Reporter

ONE of South Africa’s canned fish brands, Lucky Star, says its products are safe for human consumption as they have not been affected by the recall of tinned pilchards supplied by West Point Processors.

Presently, there are fears that some retail outlets and homes in Zimbabwe have poisoned pilchards following a recall of a batch of the brand from a processing plant in South Africa due to a canning deficiency.

A majority of Zimbabwean consumers and retailers buy their groceries and stock in the neighbouring country. 

In a statement yesterday, Luck Star said all its brands including the pilchards were not linked to the recall of pilchard products and were safe for consumption.

“Lucky Star have noted the developments around the recall of tinned pilchards produced by West Point Processors. 

“The Lucky Star brand of pilchards and all Lucky Star products are in no way linked to the recall of pilchard products and are safe to eat,” it said. 

“As a market leader in its category, Lucky Star is committed to producing safe quality products in processing facilities that conform to regulatory requirements and internationally recognised best manufacturing practices.” 

Lucky Star said all its products are verified as safe to eat by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specification (NRCS) in South Africa. 

West Point Processors, which supplies the fish, announced the recall last Saturday following a “canning deficiency” that may make the product unfit for human consumption.

The recall was only related to the 400g Pilchards in Tomato Sauce products which have the specific batch codes starting with ZST2 and ZSC2. 

On Tuesday, Botswana’s government issued a statement warning its citizens to be on the look out for the condemned fish.

It said all pilchard products with the batch number ZST29 and ZSC29 on top of the can were subject to recall.