Salmonella found at Barry Callebaut, the world's biggest chocolate plant

Retail 30 June 2022

Barry Callebaut, which owns one of the world's biggest chocolate plants in Belgium announced that it has halted production after discovering salmonella in a production lot.

The company stated that having proper safety programs in place helped it to quickly identify lecithin as the source of the contamination.

It also added in a statement that it has since informed the Belgian food authorities (FAVV) about the incident and has taken the precautionary measure to stop all chocolate production lines and to block all products manufactured since the time of testing.

"We are currently reaching out to all customers who may have received impacted products. The chocolate production in Wieze will remain suspended until further notice," said Barry Callebaut in a statement on its website.

"Our quality experts identified lecithin as the source of the contamination. As lecithin is used in all chocolate production, we have taken the precautionary measure to stop all production lines and to block all products manufactured since the time of testing, while we continue the root cause analysis and risk assessment. Out of precaution, we have also asked our customers to block any shipped products."

Barry Callebaut noted that it will continue with diligent root cause analysis with keeping the FAVV informed in the process and once this is completed, the lines will be cleaned and disinfected before resuming the production process.

Written by: Shihaam (Gabriella) Steyn-Adams.

Guzzle Media