Barry Callebaut has halted manufacturing operations at its Weize chocolate plant in Belgium, after detecting salmonella in a production lot on Monday.
The company identified lecithin as the source of the contamination and decided to halt production as a precautionary measure while it continues its root cause analysis and risk assessment.
All chocolate products manufactured at the facility since 25 June have been placed on hold.
Barry Callebaut said in a statement: “For Barry Callebaut food safety is paramount. Our robust food safety programmes in place allowed us to quickly identify lecithin as the source of the contamination. Barry Callebaut 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,” the company said.
Once the analysis has been completed, the lines will be cleaned and disinfected before resuming production.
The news comes after Ferrero temporarily suspended production at its Arlon facility in Belgium, after the site was linked to a salmonella outbreak.
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