The National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology ( ANMAT ) today prohibited the sale of a counterfeit version of the well-known Mantecol peanut paste-based dessert, which was being marketed illegally.

Mondelez Argentina SA., the company that makes Mantecol, was alerted after three complaints from consumers who claimed that the product contained “strange elements”. Once a complaint was filed, and after conducting an investigation, the ANMAT found the counterfeit product.

In this way, the control body prohibited the elaboration, fractionation, and commercialization throughout the national territory of the article labeled as “Dessert based on peanut paste and cocoa brand MANTECOL, RNE N ° 02-0000604, RNPA N ° 02-569076, presentation plastic container 3.3 Kg”.

“It is a counterfeit product, it lacks registration and it is falsely labeled when consigning the establishment and product records belonging to the Mondelez Argentina SA firm,” they argued in provision 3604/2022, published this Thursday, May 12, in the Official Gazette.

“Because it is a product that cannot be reliably and identified as produced, processed and/or fractionated in a specific establishment, it cannot be produced anywhere in the country, nor marketed or sold in the territory of the Republic” ANMAT pointed out in the document and assured that the ban is due “to protect the health of citizens.”

How do identify the counterfeit version?

By comparing both versions of the product, the genuine and the counterfeit, the agency was able to specify some differences that allowed its identification:

The net content in the fake differed from the original.
The image of the packaging on the fake product was less clear and had black borders.
The denomination was not the same: while the counterfeit product was defined as “Dessert based on peanut paste and cocoa”, the legitimate one indicates that it is a “Dessert based on peanut paste with almonds and cocoa”.
The expiration date, in the illegal version, is printed on the label without a dater, while in the original there is a batch code and date printed with inkjet ink with its coding.
The legitimate indicates that the product has a useful life of one year, while in the counterfeit it is labeled as almost five years.

Based on the details listed, the agency determined that the product ” does not comply with current regulations because it is a counterfeit product that uses the information of a genuine food, lacks records, and is falsely labeled.”