“Two small pieces of plastic material, measuring 9 mm cubed were identified by George Weston Foods Ltd in a margarine blender filter during a routine cleaning process on Wednesday, January 11, 2017,” the George Weston Foods Ltd notice read.

The manufacturer of the products discovered the potential contamination five days before they issued the consumer notice.

George Weston Foods Ltd have as yet failed to comment on the amount of time it took for them to contact retailers about the issue. George Weston Foods Ltd are also yet to comment on the potential of so many products that are within the recall range with the use-by dates between November 1, 2016  - February 15, 2017 that have already been consumed.

Local retailers that stocked and sold the potentially contaminated products however reacted to the recall notice as fast as they could despite the delay in communication about the issue from George Weston Foods.

“Woolworths stores were notified on Monday January 16 by George Western Foods Ltd and the recall became official for Woolworths the evening of Monday January 16, 2017,” A Woolworths Customer Care representative said.

IGA and ALDI stores were notified and initiated the recall on the morning of Tuesday January 17, 2017 with both supermarkets stating that they started the recall as soon as the notification came through to ensure consumer safety.

By that stage it was too late for a number of customers who had already consumed their purchase.

“There is no further comment from George Western Foods Ltd on this matter, however its customers have made public statements about the product being back available at retail level,” A George Western Foods Ltd representative said.