NORFOLK County Council Trading Standards officers are warning people not to eat a peanut butter spread sold under the brand name 'Active'. The spread, manufactured in Ghana, has been found to contain high levels of aflatoxins and breaches legislation designed to protect consumers from unsafe levels of contamination.

NORFOLK County Council Trading Standards officers are warning people not to eat a peanut butter spread sold under the brand name 'Active'.

The spread, manufactured in Ghana, has been found to contain high levels of aflatoxins and breaches legislation designed to protect consumers from unsafe levels of contamination.

The Food Standards Agency has been unable to establish where the peanut butter has been distributed for sale and county council trading standards officers have been carrying out checks of Norfolk retailers as a precaution. No jars of the peanut butter have yet been found in Norfolk and it may be that the product's sale is restricted to the London area and retailers who sell African or Afro-Caribbean food.

Aflatoxins are a type of toxin found naturally in some foods and are produced by certain moulds that grow on foods in tropical and sub-tropical countries. There may be an increased risk of cancer in people whose diets include high levels of aflatoxins. For this reason, legal limits have been set for the permissible level of aflatoxins in foods in the UK and the rest of the EU to make sure that people take in as little of them as possible.

Anybody who has bought any jars of Active peanut butter should either return it to the shop they bought it from for a refund or dispose of it. In addition, they are asked to contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506 with details of where and when they were purchased.