Italian confectionary group Ferrero has been ordered to suspend production at its plant in Belgium following an investigation into dozens of cases of salmonella allegedly linked to the company's Kinder chocolates.
Earlier this week, certain Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs were recalled by the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) due to the possible presence of salmonella.
The UK Health Security Agency said on Wednesday that 63 people in the UK, mostly young children, were known to have been infected with salmonella in the outbreak linked to the treats.
On Friday, Belgian health authorities called for the factory suspension after the firm recalled several batches of Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs and other products from shelves in Spain, Britain, Ireland and US.
Ferrero said that other Kinder products made at its Arlon site in Belgium had also been recalled, but it did not explicitly link the recall to the salmonella cases.
According to Belgium's food safety agency AFSCA-FAVV, a link had been confirmed between more than 100 cases of salmonella over several weeks and Ferrero production in southern Belgium.
It comes after Europe's health agency on Wednesday said it was investigating dozens of reported salmonella cases linked with eating chocolate in at least nine countries, mostly among children aged under 10.
Ferrero said that the Arlon plant accounts for around 7% of total global volumes of Kinder products.
The decision to suspend production at the plant was taken after the Belgian agency concluded that information from Ferrero was incomplete.
The agency said that the suspension would be lifted only when the plant could prove it was meeting all food safety rules, and also urged consumers not to eat any of the recalled products in the meantime, including Kinder Surprise, Kinder Surprise Maxi, Kinder Mini Eggs and Kinder Schokobons.
Ferrero said there were internal inefficiencies that created delays in retrieving and sharing information in a
timely manner.
It previously described recalls as precautionary and said that no Kinder products released to the market had tested positive for salmonella.
The first recall on Monday included batches of Kinder Surprise individual 20g eggs and those that come in packs of three with a best before date of between 11 July 2022 and 7 October 2022. That was later extended to include those products with a best before date of all dates up to and including 7 October 2022.
Kinder Surprise packs (100g), Kinder Mini Eggs packs (75g), and Kinder Schokobons (200g), with a best before date between 20 April 2022 and 21 August 2022, have also been recalled.
As have Kinder Egg Hunt Kits (150g) with best before dates from 21 April 2022 to 21 August 2022.
The FSA said all the eggs affected had been made in the same factory in Belgium.
The recall comes weeks before Easter, when Ferrero would likely have been hoping for a boost in sales.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2JlbGdpdW0tb3JkZXJzLWZlcnJlcm8tcGxhbnQtdG8tc2h1dC1vdmVyLWtpbmRlci1zYWxtb25lbGxhLWxpbmstMTI1ODU1MzTSAWhodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvYmVsZ2l1bS1vcmRlcnMtZmVycmVyby1wbGFudC10by1zaHV0LW92ZXIta2luZGVyLXNhbG1vbmVsbGEtbGluay0xMjU4NTUzNA?oc=5
2022-04-08 18:38:05Z
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