Ferrero’s Arlon Kinder plant to re-open after major salmonella cases response
Ferrero
Belgian food safety authorities have given permission to Ferrero to re-open its chocolate production plant in the country, following its shutdown in April amid cases of salmonella linked to the site, writes Neill Barston.
The decision comes after an extensive package of food safety controls have been instituted to enable a phased re-start of manufacturing of the company’s key Kinder lines.
As previously reported, the major measure was ordered after around total of around 300 incidents of salmonella were reported in the UK, France, and Germany, with the business confident that its response will help ensure that a similar situation will not emerge again.
According to Ferrero, more than 1,000 Ferrero employees and independent specialists have been working at the plant continuously. Significantly, more than 1,800 quality tests have been completed, 10,000 parts dismantled and cleaned, and significant investments made.
This includes the replacement of multiple pieces of equipment as well as the installation of 300 metres of new pipeline. We’ve also updated the product safety protocols, trainings and sampling in the plant.
This work has been done in full transparency and in close collaboration with AFSCA who have confirmed that all required food safety standards have been met. This experience will enable us to review our approach to managing this type of incident and, most importantly, will give us the opportunity to strengthen our cooperation with food authorities.
“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, with the business thanking employees for their ongoing commitment during the process.
“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”.
