FRANKFURT/LUXEMBURG/ARLON (dpa-AFX) – The suspicion of salmonella in Ferrero has taken on a new dimension. Back in December, the confectionery giant became aware of a case of salmonella at the Arlon factory in Belgium, which has been the focus of food authorities for a few days. This emerges from a communication from Ferrero France in Luxembourg.
According to the announcement, on December 15, Salmonella was found in a sieve at the outlet of two raw material tanks at the Arlon site. Products made from it were then retained. The filter was replaced and controls for finished and unfinished products were increased, Ferrero said.
The announcement does not explain why Ferrero did not withdraw the products already in circulation at the time. In recent days, the company has recalled products from its “Kids” confectionery line in several countries — now also in the United States, according to a company announcement released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday. local). ).
The German market has also been affected by recalls in recent days, including selected batches of “Kinder” surprise eggs and “Kinder” chocolate candies, as well as some Easter items.
These are just precautionary measures, as the company has emphasized several times. While none of the “children” products have tested positive for salmonella, Ferrero takes the matter very seriously, “because consumer protection is our top priority.” But the mere suspicion of salmonella infection can leave its mark on supermarket shelves – especially as the Easter business is considered lucrative for candy makers.
However, consumer organization Foodwatch strongly criticized the company. “If such an error happens, the public should be notified immediately,” Foodwatch’s Andreas Winkler said on Friday. For him, personal responsibility and self-monitoring by manufacturers are not enough, “transparency obligations are necessary for the authorities so that cases like Ferrero’s are disclosed immediately.”
But what was the trigger for the many recalls of the last few days? Earlier this week, cases of salmonella were reported for the first time in Britain and France. In the UK, it was mostly young children who contracted salmonella, the PA news agency reported on Monday. A short time later, Ferrero recalled a few batches of Kinder Surprise Eggs. The food safety agency said the recall had “a possible link to a salmonella outbreak”.
Also in France, Ferrero recalled products earlier this week after 21 cases of infection, according to Paris health authorities. According to them, it is genetically the same salmonella that is responsible for an outbreak of salmonella disease in Great Britain and Ireland. The affected “children’s” chocolate products are all manufactured at the aforementioned factory in Arlon, Belgium.
In working with food and health authorities in Europe, Ferrero received new data showing a correspondence between reported salmonella cases in Europe and its own factory in Arlon, the company said.
On Thursday, Ferrero also extended its product recall in Germany to some Christmas items. These include special surprise eggs and advent calendars, each with an expiration date of April 20, 2022, as seen in an overview published Thursday on the Lebensmittelarning.de portal. Only Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein are affected by the extent of the recall, according to the portal operated by the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety and the federal states.
In Europe, the EU food safety authority EFSA and the EU health authority ECDC have launched investigations. The two authorities spoke of 105 confirmed cases of salmonella and 29 suspected cases on Wednesday, most of them in children under the age of 10. Certain chocolate products have been identified as a likely route of infection.
“Salmonella disease manifests within a few days of infection with diarrhea and abdominal pain, sometimes with vomiting and mild fever,” says the consumer advice center. In healthy people, symptoms usually disappear after a few days. In certain cases, however, serious illness can occur, especially in infants, young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems./kie/juw/dub/tay/DP/eas