By Kouthar Sambo
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has urged consumers to return peanut butter brands from certain retailers that are believed to contain toxins that may be harmful when consumed.
Speaking on VOC’s DriveTime show on Monday, Food Safety Expert Professor Lucia Anelich said the Eden brand is one of those affected, as well as the Pick n Pay no-name brand.
“Only this specific type of peanut butter, which is the smooth, and various others, such as the Dischem Lifestyle peanut butter have been impacted. Retailers that are aware that they have this product on their shelves would have reacted,” explained Anelich.
Anelich went on to explain the nature of the aflatoxins and how they thrive under the right conditions.
“Aflatoxin is a natural toxin, and there are certain fungi that grow on commodities when those commodities are in the field, and these fungi then produce aflatoxins, and this normally happens when that commodity is harvested, like peanuts, and kept under hot, humid conditions. The fungus then starts to produce aflatoxin in the commodity,” detailed Anelich.
The manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that the peanuts they procure, explained Anelich, do not contain aflatoxins that exceed our regulatory limits before they produce the peanut butter.
According to Anelich, there are two types of illnesses one can get when consuming aflatoxins:
(1) Acute toxicity, which is highly unlikely, is when you have incredibly high levels and the target organ is the liver, and you will experience liver failure and death within a few days.
(2) Chronic toxicity is when you ingest higher levels over years, resulting in liver cancer 15 to 20 years later.
“You have to have a high intake of peanut butter a day, higher than usual before you consume toxins. It is all about the portion size, how frequently you eat per day, your weight, and underlying health factors that influence your intake of toxins,” advised Anelich.
Photo: Pixabay
