‘The canned fish is a common item consumed in all of our schools which offer the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) to more than 9.2 million learners every school day.
‘The DBE has instructed all provinces to communicate with their respective suppliers to stop supplying these products as part the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) menu with immediate effect,’ the DBE said in a statement.
Schools have been ordered to replace pilchards with other sources of protein from their approved menus, in the interim.
Picture for illustration purposes. Photo by Feliphe Schiarolli
‘To date the department has not yet received any negative reports from provinces; we are at this stage trying to proactively stay ahead of the any potential challenges and protect the profile, credibility and integrity of the NSNP,’ said Director for NSNP at the DBE, Neo Sediti.
Sediti reassured parents, learners and members of the public that the department is doing everything in its power to ensure that no learner is compromised.
The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) recalled the canned fish following an investigation which revealed a deficiency in the canning process.
‘Some of the cans were compromised during the sauce filling step on the production line and therefore could affect the safety of consumers.
‘The problem manifests itself after months of storage which causes the content of the can to react with the metal of the can.
‘The affected products were manufactured in 2019 by West Point Processors based in Cape Town and have been distributed nationally to various retailers across the country,’ the NRCS said in a statement.
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