Salmonella at Ferrero: contamination in Belgian factory already discovered past December

The cause of the salmonella outbreak at Ferrero's factory in the Belgian town of Arlon is a filter of two raw material reservoirs. The contamination was discovered on December 15. The chocolate company reported this in an announcement on Thursday.

In the European Union and the United Kingdom, 105 salmonella infections have already been linked to Kinder Surprise and Schokobons, among other products. The contaminated chocolate was manufactured in the Belgian factory in Arlon. According to the health authorities, the first case was detected in the UK on January 7. Since February 17, salmonella contamination has been detected in several countries.

Together with food safety authorities, the company investigated the origin of the salmonella contamination. "As part of our monitoring measures, salmonella was discovered on December 15 at the site in Arlon, Belgium. After a thorough investigation, the cause was identified as being a filter of two raw material reservoirs. Materials and finished products were blocked and not delivered", the announcement reads. Ferrero says that it no longer uses the filter and that product inspections have been increased "considerably".

The Belgian food agency FAVV reacted by saying that it was not involved in the investigation Ferrero is talking about and that its own investigation is still ongoing. Very "extensive analyses" are being made and it is still too early to draw conclusions, FAVV states.

Belgian consumer organisation Test Aankoop acknowledges that contaminations with salmonella bacteria can happen. "What is not acceptable, however, is the fact that Ferrero appears to have been aware of the situation as early as December last year. In that case, the manufacturer apparently did not react decisively enough", an announcement reads.

"It seems that Ferrero wanted to keep the matter silent as much as possible: on the one hand by a recall that was too modest, on the other hand by not reporting the problem to the FAVV, nor making it public," Test Aankoop spokesman Simon November explains.

(KOR)

Picture © BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ