PARIS When the surprise in the children’s egg is salmonella. At least fifteen suspected cases of salmonellosis have been registered in France. The mean age of the patients was four years and eight of them were hospitalized. The alarm comes days after the announcement of another strike in the Buitoni pizzas, which in turn caused the deaths of two children on French soil.
Less than two weeks before Easter, the Italian company Ferrero is recalling various Kinder im Hexagon brand products. All come from a Belgian factory in Arlon, and the French DirectorateGeneral for Public Health suspects they contain Salmonella bacteria. At least 15 cases of infection have been registered in the last few days, and six more have yet to be determined. So far, eight consumers, with an average age of four, have ended up in hospital and have since been discharged.
Ferrero said in a statement published on Monday evening and picked up by Franceinfo that “none of the children’s products on the French market have been found to contain traces of salmonella and we have not received any complaints from consumers”. However, it is recalling and recalling hundreds of tons of confectionery due to a possible link between proven salmonellosis cases and chocolate. The problem does not only affect France, the authorities are also vigilant in Belgium and already on Saturday the United Kingdom issued a recall order after finding several cases.
The outbreak of this case strikes a nerve already discovered in France. Between February and March, dozens of minors fell ill and two died after eating Buitoni pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range. French health officials said the product had been contaminated with the E. coli punch. Therefore, on March 18, a factory from which the suspicious pizzas came was closed. Nestlé, which owns Buitoni, said that while it had no information linking the contamination directly to the products, it was ready to fully challenge itself.