The Belgian Federal Food Safety Agency (FASFC) has announced that it has granted a three-month conditional license to reopen the Ferrero factory.
According to the agency, during this time, all raw materials and manufactured products at the factory will be inspected by food safety agency experts before they are placed on the market. At the end of the analysis, products that show results that meet the required conditions will be allowed to be put on the market.
The agency said this decision was made after several weeks of extensive review of Ferrero’s internal workings and the plant’s infrastructure.
According to the FASFC, the Italy-based company has now offered the necessary guarantees to operate in compliance with food safety regulations and regulations.
Thereupon, the factory was granted a temporary license, provided that all internal operations were controlled for three months.
Ferrero’s factory in Arlon was sealed off by the FASFC on April 8, after many people, mostly children, who ate Kinder chocolate products were infected with the salmonella bacteria.
FASFC had decided to recall all chocolate products produced in Ferrero’s factory in Belgium, whose license was revoked.
As a result of the investigations, it was revealed that the salmonella bacteria was detected for the first time on December 15, 2021, in a tank filter containing chocolate products at the factory.
It was determined that Ferrero officials hid this information from the Belgian authorities.
The Belgian Prosecutor’s Office also launched a judicial investigation against Ferrero due to the salmonella bacteria cases.
The complaints of Salmonella bacteria, which first appeared in England in February, started to be seen in different countries in a short time.
At least 423 people, mostly children, have been infected with salmonella through Kinder chocolate products in Europe, Canada and the US.
40 percent of people infected with Salmonella bacteria had to be treated in hospital.