Crisis Management KINDER

Charmers

• At least 105 infections in Europe are attributed to eating contaminated chocolate. Manufacturer discovered salmonella in a defective filter at two raw material reservoirs last December. Ferrero did not inform the Belgian food safety agency FAVV of the incident, but is heavily blamed for this misjudgement.
• The company only issued a list of products that were recalled, after the contamination was first discovered by the UK food safety authorities in December.
• How the contamination could have happened, will have to be proven by further investigation. Ferrero not only suffers a lot of financial damage by this incident, but also image damage, due to late and poor crisis communication. Since we discovered the problem, we have increased the number of checks. We check more than officially required.

The outbreak of salmonella linked to Kinder chocolate products is suspected to be linked to buttermilk used in a Belgian factory, European health officials said.

A “Rapid Epidemic Assessment” published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said they matched the same strain of salmonella now infecting people across Europe with samples taken from a factory in Belgium in December 2021.

The report said that “the processing stage involving buttermilk was identified as the potential point of contamination” and the necessary measures were implemented. The Salmonella bacterium identified was Salmonella Typhimurium.

The factory “distributed the chocolate products involved throughout Europe and worldwide after testing negative for Salmonella,” the report added.

Crisis management team

• Measures by the company-Specific batches of chocolate eggs 20 gr of individual products or packages of 3 were recalled from July 11, 2022 to October 7, 2–22.
• Consequences — 5 types of this particular chocolate were withdrawn in France.
• Also in Greek supermarkets there are many offers in all kinder with economical and attractive prices

STATEMENTS

Ferrero has urged US consumers not to consume certain Kinder chocolate products that are not approved for distribution in the country, warning that they may come from a lot recently recalled in Europe due to possible contamination with a type of salmonella.

The company said in a statement that none of the Kinder products currently on the market have tested positive for Salmonella and that no complaints have been received from consumers.

“We work with retailers to ensure that these products are no longer available for purchase. If you have any of these products, it is recommended that you do not consume it. “We take food safety very seriously and we sincerely apologize for this.”

The Arlon plant accounts for about 7% of the total global volume of Kinder products, Ferrero said.

The Belgian agency said the decision to suspend production there was taken after it concluded that information from Ferrero was incomplete. The lifting of the suspension will take place only when it is proved that the plant meets all the rules for food safety.

The company stated that there were internal deficiencies, which created delays in the timely retrieval and exchange of information.

He had previously described the recalls as precautionary and said that no Kinder products on the market had tested positive for salmonella.

Betty Tsakarestou, Silvia Ralli, EleniE, Ανδριάνα Μανιώτη, Marialenatsavala, ZENIA BARRY,