Belgian health authorities announced on Friday that they had given the green light to restart the Ferrero factory in Arlon for a three-month test period.
Stopped since April 8, the Ferrero factory in Arlon has received conditional authorization from the food safety authority (AFSCA) to restart its production lines from this Friday. It had been closed by decision of the health authorities, after the detection of salmonella in the factory. The entire Kinder range produced there (Kinder Surprise, Kinder Mini Eggs, Kinder Surprise Maxi 100g and Kinder Schoko-Bons) was recalled in April.
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“ This reopening follows a thorough cleaning and food safety checks carried out in close collaboration with the Belgian food safety authority (AFSCA) Kinder says in a press release. However, this reopening is subject to conditions. “ We gave a conditional authorization for three months. During this period, all raw materials and foodstuffs will be analyzed “, specifies the FASFC to Figaro. The reopening process will culminate in the restarting of production lines within a few weeks.
1800 quality tests
In order to obtain this authorization for reopening, improvement checks have been carried out there since April. The chocolate company details: More than 1,800 quality tests have been carried out, 10,000 parts have been dismantled and cleaned, and significant investments have been made. This includes the replacement of equipment as well as the installation of 300 meters of new pipes. We have also updated product safety protocols, trainings and sampling in the factory. »
“ We have requested the writing of missing or incomplete procedures. We also carried out on-site checks concerning the infrastructure and the hygiene aspect “, explains, for its part, the health authority. New checks will be carried out over the next three months to verify the proper practical application of these new procedures.
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In mid-April, 150 cases of salmonellosis had been detected in nine European countries including France, mainly in children under ten years old.
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