Salmonella bacteria was found in the Belgian Chocolate Plant, World’s biggest factory, and production halted.
Salmonella bacteria have been discovered in the World’s biggest chocolate plant, which is run by Swiss giant Barry Callebaut in the Belgian town of Wieze.
It identified lecithin, an emulsifier used routinely in making chocolates, as the source of the contamination.
A company man told Agence France-Presse production had been halted at the factory, which produces liquid chocolate in wholesale batches for 73 clients that make confectionaries.
Barry’s chocolate factory produces chocolate for multiple brands sold around the world.
The Barry Callebaut company stated on Thursday that his plant in Wieze, which is the World’s largest chocolate factory – shut down all product lines as a precaution while the contamination is investigated.
Most of the products discovered to be contaminated are still on the site.
All products manufactured since the test have been plugged.
But the company has contacted all its clients and asked them to not ship any of the products they have made with chocolate since June 25 at the Wieze plant, which is in Flanders, northeast of Brussels.
Chocolate production in Wieze remains suspended until the investigation is done.
Belgium’s food safety agency AFSCA has been informed and one of the people told AFP it had opened an investigation and contacted customers who might have contaminated products in their possession.
It is still unclear whether any customers have reported being sickened by the chocolates or the products.
Swiss group Barry Callebaut supplies cocoa and chocolate products to many companies in the food industry, including Hershey, Nestle, Mondelez, and Unilever.
The company is the world’s number one in the sector, and its annual sales amounted to 2.2 million tonnes during the financial year 2020-2021.
The group employs more than 13000 people and has more than 60 production sites all over the world.
