Retailer Woolworths has launched its own probe into a counterfeit operation involving canned pilchards, it said in a statement on Saturday.
This comes after police arrested seven undocumented immigrants and seized printing equipment used to change expiry dates at a facility in Johannesburg on Monday.
In a raid that was widely reported earlier in the week, authorities also found a large quantity of counterfeit Lucky Star pilchards that were being labelled 'Woolworths Food'.
A case of contravention of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act contravention of the Immigration Act and possession of suspected stolen property was opened.
The statement from Woolworths comes a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced urgent interventions to deal with the country's food poisoning crisis, which claimed the lives of 22 children.
