The factory in Belgium, billed as the world’s largest chocolate factory, said it had resumed operations after being closed for six weeks to deal with a salmonella contamination. Three of the 24 production lines at the plant in the town of Wiese have been restarted and the first delivery has been made, the Swiss company Barry Callebaut, which runs the factory, said.
The plant, which supplies industry giants such as Hershey, Nestle and Unilever but not directly to consumers, was shut down in late June after salmonella bacteria was found in one of the batches. We remind you that at the beginning of April chocolate eggs and Kinder candies were also withdrawn from the Bulgarian market. A warning has been issued about possible salmonella contamination of certain lots.
Zurich-based Barry Callebaut said it halted supplies and informed customers in time to prevent the contaminated chocolate from reaching stores. The source of the contamination was lecithin, which is added to smooth the texture of food, and required weeks of extensive cleanup.
“We remain cautious as this operation is unprecedented and the cleaning and disinfection process takes a long time,” said Barry Callebaut spokesman Cornell Warlop.
He said that while the factory is currently only producing a “fairly small volume”, it plans to reactivate more production lines “in the coming weeks”.
Belgium’s food health agency said it was continuing to monitor production at the plant.
The Barry Callebaut plant employs around 600 people and is a key link in the company’s total output, which in the 2020-2021 financial year was 2.2 million tonnes, produced at more than 60 sites worldwide. The company claims its Vieze factory is “the largest chocolate factory in the world” and claims it’s made in Belgium, which has an international reputation for high-quality chocolate.
Photo credit: Dima Solomin, Graphic/UI/3D — Designer / dima-solomin-xjwcIafXns8-unsplash.
