The Swiss group said on Thursday that it has stopped chocolate production in its Wieze factory, in Belgium, after the discovery on Monday of Salmonelle in a lot.
Le Monde with AFP
The Swiss group Barry Callebaut, world number one in cocoa and chocolate preparations, said Thursday June 30, having stopped chocolate production in its Wieze factory (Belgium), after the discovery of Salmonelle in a lot.
The presence of the bacteria was discovered on Monday “in a production batch made in Wieze”. “Our quality experts have identified lecithin as being the source of contamination,” said the wholesaler in a press release.
A spokesperson told agency France-Presse that “most of the contaminated products are still in the Wieze factory” and that the group was contacting its 73 customers (big industrialists, craftsmen ) to ensure that there was “no contamination at the consumer level”.
Barry Callebaut informed the Belgian health authorities, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA) and “closed all its chocolate production lines in Wieze, as a precaution”.
“All the chocolate products made in Wieze after June 25 have been blocked”, adds the company, which specifies that “all the chocolate production lines will be cleaned and disinfected before the restart of production”. The factory is found about thirty kilometers from the northwest of Brussels.
tracing of contamination
AFSCA went on site and announced that it has opened an investigation to “collect all the information in order to carry out the tracing of the contamination”.
“Food security is of the utmost importance for Barry Callebaut, and this contamination is quite exceptional. We have a well -defined charter and food security procedures”, assures the group.
This announcement occurs a few weeks after a case of contaminated chocolates with salmonella in the Ferrero factory in Arlon (south of Belgium) manufacturing Kinder chocolates. Belgian health authorities announced on June 17 that they have authorized the restart for a three -month test period of the Italian giant factory.