Belgium Closes Ferrero Plant Over Kinder Salmonella Link

Belgian health authorities ordered Italian confectionery group, Ferrero, on Friday, April 8, 2022, to suspend production at its plant in Belgium, after an investigation into dozens of cases of salmonella linked to the company's Kinder chocolates.

Photo Insert: The agency urged consumers not to eat any of the recalled products, which include Kinder Surprise, Kinder Surprise Maxi, Kinder Mini Eggs & Kinder Schokobons.

Ferrero, which recalled several batches of Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs and other products from shelves in Spain, Britain, Ireland, and United States, said other Kinder products made at its Arlon site had also been recalled.

The company did not explicitly link the recall to the salmonella cases, Praveen Paramasivam and Philip Blenkinsop reported for Reuters.

But Belgium's food safety agency AFSCA-FAVV said that a link had been confirmed between more than a hundred cases of salmonella over several weeks and Ferrero production in southern Belgium.

The agency urged consumers not to eat any of the recalled products, which include Kinder Surprise, Kinder Surprise Maxi, Kinder Mini Eggs & Kinder Schokobons.

On Wednesday, Europe's health agency had said it was investigating dozens of reported and suspected cases of salmonella linked with eating chocolate in at least nine countries, mostly among children aged under 10.

The Arlon plant accounts for around 7% of total global volumes of Kinder products, Ferrero said. The Belgian agency said the decision to suspend production there was taken after it concluded that information from Ferrero was incomplete.

Lifting the suspension would only happen once the plant was shown to be meeting all food safety rules. The agency urged consumers not to eat any of the recalled products, which include Kinder Surprise, Kinder Surprise Maxi, Kinder Mini Eggs & Kinder Schokobons.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic