The Ferrero group had to recall a dozen references and shut down its production site after several infections of children.
French justice seizes the food scandal which touches Ferrero. After the salmonellosis infection of several children who had consumed Kinder products, belonging to the group, a preliminary investigation was opened following complaints, announced the Paris prosecutor’s office.
This investigation was opened by the heads of “deception aggravated by danger to human health», «involuntary bodily harm” and “endangering the life of others“, after a complaint filed on May 19 by the consumer defense association Foodwatch France. The Paris prosecutor’s office added that the Public Health Pole of the Paris Court of Justice had seized “on the basis of withdrawals and recalls made by the company Ferrero, information communicated by Santé Publique France and the complaint of the Foodwatch associationof consumer protection, filed on May 19.
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Series of complaints
The association itself brought together several complaints from families of victims. The latter also criticize the company for having offered a purchase voucher as the only response to reimburse the price of the chocolates. This new investigation into food safety comes shortly after that targeting Buitoni pizzas marketed by the Nestlé group, which caused several serious cases of contamination of children by the Escherichia coli bacterium. Salmonellosis, due to a bacterium, causes symptoms similar to those of sometimes acute gastroenteritis: diarrhea and abdominal cramps, slight fever, vomiting.
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This investigation is also in addition to that currently being carried out by the Belgian justice system, since the factory incriminated in this wave of contamination is located in Arlon, Belgium. This factory, which produces the entire Kinder range (Kinder Surprise, Kinder Mini Eggs, Kinder Surprise Maxi 100g and Kinder Schoko-Bons) is now closed until an indefinite date. Six searches were thus carried out on Wednesday, June 8.
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The Ferrero group is suspected of having delayed alerting the authorities and recalling its products, when salmonella had been detected at its facilities in Arlon on December 15. The contamination comes from a filter located in a dairy butter tank, according to the multinational.
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