NVWA finds possibly harmful jars with herbs

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is warning against the use of a number of glass jars containing herbs and spices of the Verstegen brand. The producer had taken these jars off the market in March last year because glass particles could possibly come loose from the top rim under the cap. Products from this specific batch do not appear to have been destroyed without the producer's knowledge, but were put back on the market. This is evident from criminal investigations by the NVWA-IOD (Intelligence and Investigation Service of the NVWA).

The NVWA advises not to use these products. It concerns only glass sprinklers with laos, paprika mild, chili, Italian spices, cayenne pepper, tarragon, cinnamon, cumin seed, nutmeg, paprika spicy and pepper black with a specific batch number. This batch number can be found on the bottom of the jar. The complete list of products and batch numbers can be found in this overview.

Criminal investigation

After a report of someone who had hurt himself on a jar of spices, inspectors of the NVWA found out where the jar came from. The source turned out to be a company in the province of Gelderland. During an inspection at that company, the inspectors had doubts about a batch of glass sprinklers with herbs and spices. Detectives from the alerted NVWA-IOD then searched the company. Because the products were potentially harmful and had therefore been previously withdrawn from the market by the producer, the NVWA-IOD seized the consignment and launched a criminal investigation. The investigation was led by the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The investigation was primarily focused on finding out as quickly as possible whether these products had been traded. The owners of the company were therefore arrested and questioned. The interrogations revealed that part of the batch had indeed been sold on to traders and middlemen. This means that jars may also have ended up with consumers. Therefore, the NVWA now warns against the use of these specific spreaders.

The investigation into this fraud is still in full swing. It is being investigated, among other things, how the products ended up at the company in Gelderland. More arrests are not excluded.

nvwa.nl