The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (Afsca) announced on Friday to recall all Kinder products manufactured in Arlon and to withdraw its production authorization from this site, due to a hundred cases of salmonellosis identified in Europe these last weeks. “A link made at the end of March between these poisonings and the Ferrero production plant in Arlon has since been confirmed”, underlines Afsca.
Since then, the Federal Agency has conducted an in-depth investigation at the Arlon production site. “Following the findings and following incomplete information from Ferrero, the Afsca withdraws the production authorization from the Ferrero site in Arlon”, specifies the Afsca.
So far, only a certain number of lots have been withdrawn from sale. But the Afsca has now decided to recall all ‘Kinder Surprise’, ‘Kinder Surprise Maxi’, ‘Kinder Mini Eggs’ & ‘Schoko-bons’ type products in an exhaustive manner, regardless of the batches or expiry dates. The Afsca therefore asks consumers not to consume any of the aforementioned products and calls on distribution companies to remove all these sweets from the shelves. The Afsca also demanded from Ferrero “an irreproachable customer approach” while the Italian company has been the subject of criticism since the start of this health scandal.
The federal agency says it is closely following the steps taken by Ferrero and will only authorize the reopening of the site after it has been able to conclude that the establishment meets all food safety rules and requirements. In the meantime, the investigation carried out on the site of the Italian group is continuing.
For its part, Ferrero recognizes in a statement “a lack of internal efficiency, which has delayed the communication of information.” Thursday, the company had indicated that the presence of salmonella had been detected on December 15 on a filter at the outlet of two tanks of raw materials on its site in Arlon.
Consumers with questions should contact Ferrero customer service via their call center: [email protected] or 0800 21042.