The National Consumer Commission (NCC) strongly advises South African residents to check their refrigerators after SPAR voluntarily recalled eleven varieties of its own-brand yogurts. The recall was due to a manufacturing defect that could potentially cause stomach upset.
Product Recall Details
The recall announcement was made on Thursday and affects selected SPAR product lines, including Fat Free, Low Fat, Double Cream, Indulge Double Cream, and Active Drinking Yoghurt. All affected stock has an expiry date until August 9, 2026, and a consumption date until August 12, 2026, having been sold in SPAR stores nationwide since June 15.
Reason and Warnings
SPAR discovered the issue during production and notified the NCC, which issued a public warning on Thursday. It was clarified that only products with the specified expiry dates are subject to the recall; other SPAR yogurt lines remain unaffected. An NCC representative, Fetho Ntaba, stated in a media release that the recall is related to equipment malfunction during production, which led to the product bloating. He added that this may cause changes in the product's taste, smell, and appearance.
Consumer Recommendations
The NCC warned that consuming the affected products could lead to digestive problems. The full list of recalls includes 11 items, ranging from Low Fat Strawberry Yoghurt with fruit in 500g containers to Indulge Double Cream Strawberry and White Choc in 100ml portions. Affected flavors include passion, orange, mixed berries, peach, apricot, plain, and blackberry, in sizes from 100ml to 1kg. The NCC has posted barcodes, batch data, and quantities for each affected item on its website.
The products subject to the recall were on shelves for almost four weeks, with national sales running from June 15 until the announcement on Thursday. Consumers who purchased these items are advised not to consume them and to cross-reference the names and barcodes with the published NCC list before returning them. Ntaba advised returning the products to the nearest SPAR store for a full refund or exchange. The NCC urged consumers to respond promptly to such product safety recalls to mitigate potential health risks. Any questions can be directed to the commission directly at ProductRecall@thencc.org.za.
Scale of the Problem
According to the batch data published by the NCC, 3,987 packages of the affected yogurt were distributed across 11 product lines, with quantities varying from 228 packages of Fat Free Strawberry Yoghurt to 655 packages of Low Fat Plain Yoghurt.