Image of food products with corrected labelling.
Cape Town - The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has issued Compliance Notices to various Western Cape food suppliers found largely to have contravened Section 24 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
The NCC issued 14 Compliance Notices to suppliers of non-compliant goods over recent months.
Twelve of these suppliers were based in the Western Cape, and one each in KwaZulu-Natal and in Gauteng.
In the Western Cape, the NCC said market monitoring inspections were conducted in Cape Town, where 40 suppliers were inspected.
Of the inspected suppliers, 12 were issued with Compliance Notices and 23 are being investigated further.
The NCC said they found inconsistencies with labelling requirements, where suppliers did not properly label the goods or affix ingredients on the packaging.
Suppliers that failed to label either one or a number of items included Fairfield Meat Express; Dadas Nutritious Foods and Spices; Bag It; Planet Sweets; Beadica 381 (Pty) Ltd trading as Fish for Africa; Die Visfabriek; Bismila Grand Parade Halaal; Amigos Fisheries; and Super Spar Cape Gate, the NCC said.
Other contraventions included Athena Fast Foods for failing to display the prices of goods on the shelves, and Country Glam for the delivery of unsafe vegetables to the consumer.
Supplier Bernice Warwick and Co had contravened the Act after it was found that the supplier installed untreated firewood that posed a risk to the consumer.
The consumer had entered into an agreement for the installation of fireproof-treated ash wood and paid R10 220.
A refund was requested by the consumer but this was not done by the supplier.
Ishtiyaaq Sonday from Fairfield Meat Express store in Ottery said the NCC visited their store on October 24, 2024, and that they have since complied with the requests of the NCC.
“They pointed out all the issues with regards to labelling that was incorrect.
“We immediately then corrected all the incorrect labelling and added ingredients on the product where it was needed.”
Sonday said no deadline or penalty was given to rectify the issues related to labelling.
Failure to label goods in accordance with the CPA contravenes Section 24.
Section 24 of the CPA provides that a “trade description must be applied to the goods or any covering, label or in or on reel, or which goods are packaged or attached to the goods. Trade description must include the country of origin and any other prescribed information.”
The NCC said it was also finalising investigations from inspections conducted in Limpopo, Gauteng, Northern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
NCC’s acting commissioner, Hardin Ratshisusu, said: “From the concluded investigations, the NCC found that consumers continue to be exposed to unsafe foodstuffs and most suppliers do not comply with the provisions of the CPA. The NCC continues to prioritise cases of expired and unsafe foodstuffs.”
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za
Cape Argus
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