Belgian authorities pulled emergency brake at Ferrero

Nice for months Ferrero knew of a problem in one Belgian factory. But now the authorities there pulled the emergency brake and the license was revoked. the However, grievances had apparently been known for months. Common Good Foundation Comun checks legal actionit said in a broadcast on Saturday.

Also in Austria are selected batches of children’s products recalled as a precaution or removed from the shelves in the supermarkets. A detailed list of the affected products can be found on the AGES website. The Common Good Foundation Comun with its two citizens’ initiatives organic and supply chain law is now demanding legal consequences: “It can’t be the case that a billion-dollar corporation allegedly hides a serious problem for months and gets away with it. This case shows why there must finally be liability options. We are now examining legal action once morest the group, even if we are not very optimistic.” Veronika Bohrn Currencyspokeswoman for the citizens’ initiative for a supply chain law and chairwoman of the Comun foundation for the common good.

She stated that the current laws are too weak to protect consumers from the machinations of the corporations. “Ferrero is here too no blank slate. corporations like this write billions in profits, but take no responsibility for their misdeeds. That has to end now,” demanded Bohrn Mena.

If the legal examination, with which a renowned lawyer is commissioned, comes to the conclusion that there are no possibilities for legal action, a corresponding change in the law will be sought, it said in the broadcast. The Public Welfare Foundation is already with Minister of Justice Alma Zadić (Greens) in contact and will be in May as part of the “Austrian consumer dialogues” a Round table on the supply chain law to organize.

Already at December 15, Ferrero is a salmonella case at the factory became known in Arlon, Belgium, as a communication from Ferrero France in Luxemburg emerges. Accordingly, salmonella were found there in a sieve at the outlet of two raw material tanks. The products made from it were then held back. The filter has been replaced and controls on unfinished and finished products have been increased, Ferrero said.

On Friday, the meanwhile initiated reached investigations of the food authorities finally theirs preliminary climax. The confectionery giant has to stop production at the factory in Belgium, which has been in focus for days, for the time being. the Regulatory Authority Afsca announced that Production license for the factory withdrawn as a result of investigations. According to the statement, Ferrero did not provide sufficient information in the investigation. In the midst of the important Easter business, Ferrero must now recall all products from the factory, regardless of their production date.

According to Afsca’s announcement, all of them are Kinder Surprise, Kinder Mini Eggs, Kinder Surprise Maxi and Chocolate Bons affected that were manufactured in Arlon. The product Kinder Mix Easter Gift Bag, which was offered in some German test stores, is also affected by the recall. Afsca also asked all distributors to withdraw affected products from retail outlets. The Arlon plant may only reopen once all food safety rules and requirements have been met.

Crisis chronology before Easter

On Friday followingnoon, Ferrero spoke up once more and gave Errors in handling the recalls of some products. The Italian company remains vague regarding the reasons for the month-long gap between the discovery of the Salmonella case in Arlon and the recalls in April: “Internal inefficiencies” ensured “that there were delays in the recalls and in the exchange of information”. Therefore, the investigations into the case were not carried out as quickly and efficiently as necessary, the statement said.

Since the beginning of the week, the company has been recalling products from its children’s confectionery line in a number of countries following reports of several cases of salmonella being linked to the products from the Arlon factory. The company initially emphasized that the recalls were purely precautionary measures.

On Thursday, Ferrero announced that through the collaboration with Food and health authorities in Europe received new data showing a match between the Salmonella cases reported in Europe and its own Arlon plant.

However, the consumer organization has sharply criticized the company food watch. “If such a mistake happens, the population must be warned immediately,” said Andreas Winkler from Foodwatch on Friday. In his opinion, personal responsibility and self-monitoring by the manufacturers are not sufficient, “transparency obligations for authorities are necessary so that cases like Ferrero must be made public immediately”.

The EU food safety authority EFSA and the EU health authority ECDC had already started investigations. The two authorities had on Wednesday from 105 confirmed Salmonella cases and 29 suspected cases spoken, most of them in children under the age of ten. Certain chocolate products have been identified as a likely route of infection.

According to the German consumer advice center, a salmonella disease manifests itself within a few days following the Infection with diarrhea and abdominal pain. Sometimes vomiting and a slight fever can also occur. In healthy people, the symptoms usually subside following a few days. In certain cases, however, it can severe disease progression occur, especially in infants, small children, the elderly and people with a weakened immune system.