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FMCG News South Africa

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    Pioneer Foods recalls LiquiFruit and Ceres apple juice products

    Pioneer Foods is recalling certain 100% apple juice products, sold under its LiquiFruit brand in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, and the Ceres brand in other jurisdictions. No Ceres products sold in South Africa are affected by the recall.
    Source: Supplied
    Source: Supplied

    An internal investigation by the food and beverage company revealed that a limited quantity of apple juice concentrate supplied to Pioneer Foods contained elevated levels of patulin. Patulin is a naturally occurring mycotoxin commonly associated with apples. The recall is based on the presence of this mycotoxin (patulin) exceeding 50 parts per billion (microgram/kg) which is the regulatory threshold.

    CEO Tertius Carstens said, “The health and wellbeing of our consumers is of absolute importance to us, and hence when we identified the potential of a food safety issue, following in-house standard testing and engagement with one of our local suppliers, we immediately launched an internal investigation into all our 100% apple juice products.

    “We have taken the decision, as a precautionary measure and with the interests of our consumers at heart, to launch a recall of products produced from the apple juice concentrate batch in question.”

    The Pioneer Foods recall comes a week after Coca-Cola South Africa announced the voluntary recall of certain batches of Appletiser, also reportedly due to higher than acceptable level of patulin.

    Products sold in SA

    The following LiquiFruit 100% Apple Juice SKUs sold inside South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are affected, with the relevant batch and production codes below:

    LiquiFruit Clear Apple 250ml carton

    Single unit barcode: 60052599
    Date coding: PD 11.06.2021 / BB 11.06.2022

    LiquiFruit Clear Apple 330ml can

    Single unit barcode: 6001240225561
    Date coding: PD 07.06.2021 / BB 07.06.2022
    PD 08.06.2021 / BB 08.06.2022

    LiquiFruit Clear Apple 300ml can

    Single unit barcode: 6001240239346
    Date coding: PD 21.06.2021 / BB 21.06.2022

    LiquiFruit Clear Apple 1L

    Single unit barcode: 6001048000339
    Date coding: PD 07.06.2021 / BB 07.06.2022
    PD 08.06.2021 / BB 08.06.2022

    Products sold outside of SA

    The following Ceres 100% Apple Juice SKUs sold outside of South Africa are affected, with the relevant batch and production codes below:

    Ceres Apple 4x6x200ml

    Single unit barcode: 6001240200018
    Date coding: PD 14.06.2021 / BB 14.06.2022
    PD 21.06.2021 / BB 21.06.2022
    PD 22.06.2021 / BB 22.06.2022

    Ceres Apple Sparkling 275 ml glass

    Single unit barcode: 6001240222676
    Date coding: PD 14.06.2021 / BB 14.06.2022
    PD 15.06.2021 / BB 15.06.2022

    Ceres Apple 12x1L

    Single unit barcode: 6001240100011
    Date coding: PD 17.06.2021 / BB 17.06.2022
    PD 18.06.2021 / BB 18.06.2022
    PD 21.06.2021 / BB 21.06.2022
    PD 22.06.2021 / BB 22.06.2022

    “We have not received any complaints from consumers about these products but decided to accelerate further testing on this product range to be absolutely certain of the extent of the potential impact,” Carstens clarified.

    Consumers who have the products listed above, with the specific batch or date coding, are urged to return these products to the retailer from which they were purchased, to receive a full refund.

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