In a jam for bad peanut butter

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has announced it is investigating Clover for alleged contraventions of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

This comes after the dairy company informed the NCC it has recalled 10 776 units of 400g of Go Nuts peanut butter after numerous tests revealed higher levels of aflatoxin.

Aflatoxin is defined as a family of toxins produced by certain fungi found on crops such as maize, peanuts, cottonseed and tree nuts.

Clover’s recall comes after the commission recently received five peanut butter recalls, including Pick n Pay’s 1kg No Name, DisChem’s 400g Lifestyle Brand and 800g of its smooth and crunchy, Wazoogles, Eat Naked and Woolworths’ peanut butter dairy ice cream, after they failed to meet the acceptable levels of aflatoxin.

“Following these recalls, the NCC called on all producers, manufacturers and suppliers of peanut butter, peanut butter-based products, and products containing peanuts, to immediately test their products for aflatoxin levels and submit their results to the NCC,” it said.

NCC acting commissioner Thezi Mabuza said the call for suppliers, manufacturers and distributors to immediately test their products has been an eye-opener.

“From the test results received by the commission, there is an indication suppliers were not compliant with their protocols, and regulations,” she said on Friday.

“We are expecting retailers to immediately recall those brands that are non-compliant. This is to ensure we protect consumers from any further harm.”

The NCC said it had made a decision to get to the bottom of the challenge. “Section 60 of the Act read with the NCC’s Product Recall Guidelines, requires that the supplier or manufacturer upon discovering safety has been compromised that a retailer or supplier must recall the affected product immediately and inform the regulators.

“Upon receiving the notification from Clover, the commission assessed the recall and established some inconsistencies with the CPA.”

Consumers who have Clover’s Go Nuts 400g with the 12, 18 and 19 June 2025 and 19 July 2025 best-before dates are urged to stop consuming the product and return it to the point of purchase for a full refund. –