The Ferrero site in Arlon, Belgium, which was already affected by a salmonella infection in its Kinder chocolate last year, has had to partially halt production after the same bacterium was discovered in “the walls and baseboards of the factory” in late June, the company said on Thursday .
• Also read: A salmonellosis epidemic could only just be avoided
When asked by AFP, Laurence Evrard, Benelux spokesman for the Italian agri-food giant, said that after this discovery, cleaning of the surrounding production lines is still planned “for the next two weeks”.
In addition, there is a “technical maintenance measure” that explains that “all production” has been stopped for the time being, emphasized another company spokesman in the evening.
“But the factory is not closed,” Ms Evrard added, and employees’ salaries are “100% covered”.
In a press release published on its website on July 6, Ferrero had announced the temporary closure of “part of the production lines” since the previous week after “reinforced controls” by its teams detected salmonella.
The group presented this suspension of manufacturing as a “precautionary measure,” stating that “no final product tested positive.”
Already in April 2022, Ferrero had to stop production in Arlon and, more importantly, recall all products manufactured there, after dozens of cases of salmonellosis were reported in several European countries, possibly linked to the consumption of its chocolate products. Europe .
Salmonellosis causes symptoms similar to gastroenteritis, sometimes acute: diarrhea and abdominal cramps, low-grade fever, even vomiting. No deaths were reported.
The Arlon plant, under the strict supervision of the Belgian health authorities, finally got the green light to restart under normal conditions in September.
The Italian giant had to justify major clean-ups and investments in new pipes, as well as hundreds of quality tests, to be able to start again.
With Ferrero suspected of being too slow to respond to an issue identified in December 2021, it has become the target of legal investigations in Belgium and France.
Arlon in the Belgian Ardennes is a key site for this group, known worldwide for its Kinder and Nutella brands.