Health & safety
Ferrero factory linked to Salmonella outbreak set to reopen
The outbreak at the plant in Arlon, Belgium included Kinder Surprise 20g and 20g x 3, Kinder Surprise 100g, Kinder Mini eggs 75g, Kinder Egg Hunt Kit 150g and Kinder Schokobons 200g.
Ferrero was forced to recall the products in April 2022 after Salmonella cases were detected across Europe – 101 cases were detected in the UK alone, with the majority of these found in children under five years old.
The Belgium food safety authority (AFSCA) has now given a 'conditional' authorisation for three months at the plant where raw materials, as well as each batch of foodstuffs produced, will be analysed before the products can be placed on the market.
If all the inspections are clear then the factory will be given full authorisation, the AFSCA said.
“We are very pleased to have received the green light from the Belgian food safety authority. We would like to thank AFSCA for their invaluable guidance and support,” said Lapo Civiletti, chief executive officer of the Ferrero Group.
“We are truly sorry for what happened and would like to apologise once again to all those impacted. We have never experienced a situation like this in our 75-year history. We have taken learnings from this unfortunate event and will do everything to ensure it does not happen again”.