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Plant in Wieze: the production lines stand still.
Photo: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
The lines are standing still: The chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut has stopped production after a salmonella outbreak at a plant in Wieze, Belgium.
The delivery was also interrupted, as the Swiss company announced.
The salmonella bacteria, which can cause severe diarrhea, were found in lecithin, which is used in all of its products, according to the company on Monday.
The Belgian food safety authority FAVV was informed immediately.
Barry Callebaut is a supplier of chocolate and cocoa products.
They are supplied to commercial customers for further processing, so the brand is less well known.
The company assumes that the few quantities that have been delivered since Monday have not yet been processed and sold to customers anywhere, said a company spokesman.
The investigations were still ongoing.
Barry Callebaut supplies patisseries, bakeries, the catering trade and beverage manufacturers, for example.
The company, with over 12,000 employees in more than 40 countries, describes itself as the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products.
The plant in Wieze also supplies German customers.
The company did not say whether any of the contaminated chocolate mass was delivered to Germany.
The factory will be cleaned and disinfected, the company said.
That might take a few days.
mic/dpa-AFX