‘Safe’ Lucky Star hit by canned fish recall

A decision by the department of basic education (DBE) to impose an immediate countrywide suspension on canned pilchards as part of the national school nutrition menu could have a ripple effect on the fishing industry, with the Oceana Group Limited, which owns the Lucky Star brand, warning that jobs could be affected.

Government’s blanket decision was also bound to result in financial losses running into millions of rands, according to Oceana executive for regulatory and corporate affairs Zodwa Velleman.

Despite the national regulator for compulsory specifications (NRCS) not having cited Lucky Star as being unsuitable for human consumption in its recent order to remove the 400g pilchards in tomato sauce and 400g pilchards in chilli sauce with immediate effect, the blanket ban was “a source of concern”.

Canned fish is a common food offered to more than 9.2 million pupils in schools daily.

The department’s decision followed the outcome of the NRCS investigation, which revealed a deficiency in the canning process.

Velleman said the DBE’s drastic measure for the total ban of pilchards in schools caused confusion and affected the Lucky

Star brand, which was “safe to eat and cleared by the NRCS”.

She said: “We have noted the developments around the recall of tinned pilchards produced by West Point Processors... all Lucky Star products are in no way linked to the recall and are safe to eat.”

Oceana had engaged with the DBE “to convince government that our brand should not be affected”.

She said: “They are incorrectly basing their decision on the assumption that the NRCS mentioned all canned fish products, which is not the case with Lucky Star.

“This has certainly damaged our good brand, which is being pre-inspected by the regulator before distribution.”