Customers who have recently purchased canned Pilchards in Tomato Sauce in 400g tins under the Shoprite, Checkers and OK house brands have been urged to return them for a refund.

West Point Processors, which supplies the house brand products, announced a recall on Saturday, citing a “canning deficiency” that may make the product “unfit for human consumption”.

“Because consumer safety is our top priority, we wish to recall some Pilchards in Tomato Sauce products,” the company said in a statement.

“The recall is only related to the 400g Pilchards in Tomato Sauce products which have the specific batch codes starting with ZST2 and ZSC2.

“There is a small possibility that some tins may have a canning deficiency which could make the product unfit for consumption. We are working to identify the issue and ensure that our product meets the high standard our consumers rightly expect from us.”

Most of the stock that may contain deficient cans has been isolated in the manufacturer’s factory, in retail distribution centres across the country and removed from sale in stores.

However, it is possible that consumers may recently have purchased an affected tin. The affected brands are Cape Point and Saldanha as well as Shoprite Ritebrand, Checkers Housebrand, U-brand and OK Housebrand.

“Products with the above-mentioned codes must be returned to the supermarket where it was purchased for a full refund. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” said the company.

Shoprite and Checkers told customers on social media that they had swiftly reacted to West Point Processors' recall notice.