Barry Callebaut to re-open Belgian factory after salmonella scare
The Swiss company Barry Callebaut, which supplies chocolate products to global confectioners, has declared a factory in Belgium safe to resume operations after salmonella was detected in a batch of ingredients.
The chocolate giant closed down its production plant in Wieze, Belgium, on June 29 as a precautionary measure after discovering the tainted batch of lecithin – a fatty substance that is commonly used in confectionary making.
The company alerted the Belgian food safety authorities and conducted measures to ensure that the plant was free of contamination.
On Friday, Barry Callebaut said the factory should be operating in early August and plans to ramp up production in stages.
The company said that no salmonella tainted products had entered the retail chain or reached consumers.
“Food Safety is paramount for the Group and this is an exceptional incident,” Barry Callebaut stated on FridayExternal link.
Barry Callebaut is a global leader in chocolate and cocoa products and employs 13,000 people in 60 sites worldwide. In 2021, the company achieved sales of CHF7.2 billion ($7.3 billion).
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