In happy chocolate news: Ferrero's main plant in Belgium, which was at the center of the salmonella outbreak at the beginning of last April, will soon be back in operation.
As you may recall, the discovery of salmonella in Ferrero's production line and the shutdown of the Belgian plant led to a worldwide shortage of the company's products, especially Kinder's surprise eggs, which were also removed from the shelves in Israel.
But now, as mentioned, the plant has received a green light from the Belgian Food Safety Authority (AFSCA) to reopen its gates.
The approval to open the plant, located in the city of Arlon, was obtained after a few weeks in which about 1,800 rigorous inspections were conducted both by Ferrero itself and by the Belgian Food Safety Authority.
As part of the repair of the defects, about 10,000 parts of machinery and equipment were dismantled, cleaned and reassembled, and about 300 meters of piping were replaced.
Ferrero, it was reported, even refreshed its food safety protocols and implemented new and more rigorous work practices.
It is expected that the reopening of the plant will take place in the coming weeks, but not everything will return to normal so quickly, as the company will operate for three months "on condition".
During this period, all of Ferrero's raw materials, as well as samples of the finished products, will be inspected by the Food Authority for fear of the presence of the bacterium.
Only if the products are found to be salmonella-free and edible, can Ferrero market them.
According to information provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), Ferrara products infected with salmonella have caused about 150 cases, most of them in the UK, France and Belgium.
In addition, the case of Ferrero and the discovery of salmonella in the chocolate factory of the Strauss Elite company, whose products have not yet returned to the shelves (in which case no cases of illness have been discovered), must be separated.
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