The National Consumer Tribunal has reached a settlement with a peanut butter manufacturer following a nationwide recall of its products last year.
The manufacturer named House of Butters which trades under the name Eden All Butters has agreed to pay a R500 000 penalty after a series of product safety recalls in February 2024.
Following an investigation, it was found that the peanut butter products contained higher than legally acceptable levels of aflatoxin – a poisonous carcinogen.
“The Consumer Protection Act actually requires that suppliers of goods and services must ensure that they provide goods that are free of defects, safe for use and durable for the period intended. And of course the law also requires, which is the CPA, also requires that the manufacturers or producers of various products must also ensure that they do comply with various laws, public laws and regulations of the Republic of South Africa,” the National Consumer Commission’s spokesperson Phetho Ntaba explained.
THIS IS THE FULL STATEMENT THE NCC HAD ISSUED:
The National Consumer Tribunal (Tribunal) has confirmed a settlement agreement entered into between the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and House of Natural Butters (Pty) Ltd trading as Eden All Butters (“House of Natural Butters”).
The NCC and the supplier concluded a settlement agreement on 25 February 2025, where the supplier agreed to pay an administrative fine. The NCC then referred the settlement agreement to the Tribunal. On 3 June 2025, the Tribunal confirmed the settlement agreement and made it a consent order in terms of section 74(1) of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
In terms of the settlement, House of Natural Butters has agreed to pay an administrative fine of R500,000.
In February 2024, the NCC received peanut butter recall notifications from Dischem and Pick ‘n Pay due to elevated levels of Aflatoxin found in certain peanut butter. Upon engaging with the retailers, the NCC discovered that both had ordered their products from House of Natural Butters. The NCC then consulted with this manufacturer to understand their processes. The manufacturer informed the NCC that it also produced items for other suppliers. House of Natural Butters subsequently recalled all affected products through a series of product safety recalls, which commenced on 2 February 2024.
The NCC established that the affected products had higher than legally acceptable levels of aflatoxin as set out under R1145 Regulation Governing Tolerance of Fungus-Produced Toxins in Foodstuffs. Based on this information, the NCC initiated an investigation into the affairs of the House of Natural Butters.
The investigation revealed that between 11 May 2023 and 6 November 2023, House of Natural Butters imported and supplied contaminated, decayed and impure peanuts, groundnuts and byproducts to South African consumers through various retailers.
The investigation concluded that the supplier’s conduct was in contravention of regulation 3 of Regulation 638 of 20181 and regulation 2(b) of Regulation 1145 of 2004, read with section 2(1)(b)(i) of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 1972, read with section 55(2)(b) and (d) of the CPA.
In granting the consent order, the Tribunal noted that “The respondent imported the products from Malawi and Zambia using trucks and trailers, via land borders and port entries. The trucks and trailers did not have the requisite certificates of acceptability required for the transportation of food. Further laboratory test results from various accredited food testing laboratories established that the products were contaminated, decayed and impure.”
The matter between the NCC and another manufacturer of peanut butter implicated in this matter is still ongoing.
The Acting Commissioner, Mr Hardin Ratshisusu, said, “The NCC welcomes this consent order as it brings this matter against House of Natural Butters to a finality. It is incumbent upon suppliers of food products in the South African market to ensure strict compliance with food safety regulations and the Consumer Protection Act.”
