Two European health monitoring agencies announced the registration of 150 cases of salmonella in nine European countries recently, attributing these cases to a “Belgian production plant” belonging to the company “Kinder” (Ferrero), which was closed a few days ago in the city of Arlon, southeast of the capital, Brussels.
“On April 8, 2022, 150 confirmed and probable cases of salmonella were recorded,” the European Food Safety Agency and the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said in a joint statement.
The two agencies drew attention to “identifying products prepared from chocolate made by a company in a Belgian production factory, which has been identified as the origin of the salmonella epidemic,” without mentioning the giant Italian group by name.
The statement indicated that the injuries “occurred especially among children under the age of ten” and were reported in nine European countries, namely Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Salmonella bacteria sometimes cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea, intestinal cramps, a slight rise in body temperature and even vomiting. No deaths have been reported so far.
European experts point to the need for additional investigations to “determine the exact source and exact moment of the infection”, and to research “the wider use of raw materials that cause injuries in other factories.”
On Monday, the Belgian judiciary opened an investigation to determine possible responsibilities inside the Arlon factory, whose license the Belgian Food Safety Agency withdrew, on Friday, due to a lack of transparency in the case.
Despite the strengthening of health supervision and hygiene measures, chocolate products contaminated with salmonella were distributed in Europe and the United States, which led Ferrero, on Friday, to acknowledge the existence of “internal loopholes”.
As soon as a link was revealed between Kinder products and salmonella infections at the end of last March, following a move in this context by the British authorities, quantities of these products were withdrawn in several European countries and in the United States.
Ferrero indicated that the recall measures include all products made at the Arlon plant, regardless of batch number or expiration date.