About 7,000 potentially defective cans of Lucky Star mackerel, a product of Oceana Group, were taken off supermarket shelves throughout KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, hygiene and sanitation company Ecowize said on Friday.

This follows Tuesday's announcement by Oceana Brands of its nation-wide recall of all 400g cans of Lucky Star "mackerel in tomato sauce" believed could be a health hazard due to the corrosion of cans.

At the time, it said 90 percent of the possibly affected product was available for sale in the KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape markets. The problem does not affect any other Lucky Star products.

Ecowize managing director Gareth Lloyd-Jones commended Oceana for its quick reaction, saying failure to do so would have lead to "devastating" results.

"The incident highlights the importance of taking quick action in the face of potential danger to consumers...companies must follow due diligence processes to prevent food safety issues," said Lloyd-Jones.

Although the problem is confined to only one batch of Mackerel cans, all 400g cans of Mackerel in Tomato Sauce were removed from distribution nation-wide as a safety precaution.

"Reports by independent experts confirmed that internal corrosion in the affected cans created pinholes in the tin.

"The product passed all the necessary quality control tests and this was, unfortunately, a defective batch of lacquered tin plate." the group said.

The potentially defective cans were only used for Lucky Star Mackerel in Tomato Sauce produced between 29 August and 2 September 2009, and have been on sale for more than a year. The product has a three-year shelf-life. - Sapa