The Swiss group Barry Callebaut, world leader in cocoa and chocolate preparations, said Thursday that it had stopped production of chocolate at its factory in Wieze (Belgium), presented as the largest in the world, after the discovery of salmonella.
The presence of the bacteria was discovered on Monday “in a production batch manufactured in Wieze”. “Our quality experts have identified lecithin as the source of the contamination,” the wholesaler said in a statement.
A spokesperson told AFP that “most of the contaminated products are still in the Wieze factory” and that the group was in the process of contacting its 73 customers (large industrialists, craftsmen) to ensure that there is ‘no contamination at the consumer level’.
Barry Callebaut has “closed all its chocolate production lines in Wieze, as a precautionary measure” and informed the Belgian health authorities, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA).
“All chocolate products produced in Wieze after June 25 have been blocked,” the statement added, specifying that “all chocolate production lines will be cleaned and disinfected before production restarts”. The factory is located about 30 km north-west of Brussels.
The FASFC went to the site and indicated that it had opened an investigation to “collect all the information in order to trace the contamination”.
“Food safety is of the utmost importance to Barry Callebaut and this contamination is quite exceptional. We have a charter and well-defined food safety procedures”, assures the group.
Due to its wholesale activity, the products first go to a manufacturer and pass through several stages before arriving at the final consumer.
Barry Callebaut’s share price fell 2.85% at midday to 2,112 Swiss francs.
This announcement comes a few weeks after a case of chocolates contaminated with salmonella in the Ferrero factory in Arlon (south of Belgium) manufacturing Kinder chocolates. Belgian health authorities announced on June 17 that they had given the green light to restart the Italian giant’s factory for a three-month test period.
The Swiss group Barry Callebaut supplies cocoa and chocolate preparations to many companies in the food industry, ranging from industry giants such as Hershey, Mondelez, Nestlé or Unilever to pastry professionals.
World number one in the sector, its annual sales amounted to 2.2 million tonnes during its staggered 2020/2021 financial year (ended August 31).
Over the past financial year, the group, whose head office is in Zurich, had generated a net profit of 384.5 million Swiss francs for 7.2 billion francs in turnover.
The group, which employs more than 13,000 people, has more than 60 production sites worldwide.