The cleaning of Barry Callebaut’s chocolate factory in Wieze, Belgium, is nearing completion following a salmonella outbreak earlier this year that saw operations shutdown temporarily. 

The factory is now back to operating at normal capacity after halting production.

The chocolate and cocoa giant stressed that most of the chocolate infected didn’t leave the plant but the company launched an investigation into the cause of the contamination at the time.

The first salmonella-positive chocolate production lot was detected on June 27, 2022. On June 29, 2022, a lecithin batch from a supplier was identified as the root cause. Barry Callebaut halted all chocolate production lines at the factory as a precautionary measure, preventing affected chocolate products from entering the retail market. 

Barry Callebaut informed the Belgian Food Safety Authorities (FAVV) and continuously collaborated with the organization about this incident.

On August 8, 2022, the first cleaned and disinfected production lines reopened, marking an important milestone in this cleaning operation, unprecedented in scale for Barry Callebaut, as well as the conclusion of the first phase of its recovery plan. 

In the following weeks, the Wieze factory continued to ramp up to normal capacity. 

The cleaning procedure was time-consuming and had to be strictly followed to ensure food safety and the safety of its employees, notes the company. 

Normalcy following a “difficult period”
Peter Boone, CEO of Barry Callebaut, says: “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to our customers for their understanding during this difficult period and to all our employees who worked tirelessly for weeks to get the Wieze factory up and running again.”

“Food Safety is paramount for the group, and this was a very exceptional incident. Barry Callebaut has a Food Safety charter and procedure in place, and over 230 colleagues working on food safety and quality in Europe and over 650 worldwide.”

At the site in Wieze, employees are trained to recognize food safety risks, continues Boone. “This allowed the teams to quickly identify the risk, complete the root cause analysis and start the cleaning process.”

Previous salmonella cases 
In April, a salmonella outbreak in Ferrero production lines forced The Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland to advise consumers to avoid Ferrero Kinder products with best-before dates of July 11 and October 7, 2022.

The food agencies enforced a precautionary product recall and it wasnt until June 17 that the health authorities allowed the restart of the Ferrero plant. 

“More than 1,000 Ferrero employees and independent specialists have been working at the plant continuously. More than 1,800 quality tests have been completed, 10,000 parts dismantled and cleaned, and significant investments made. This includes the replacement of multiple pieces of equipment as well as the installation of 300 meters of new pipeline. We’ve also updated the plant’s product safety protocols, training and sampling,” underscored Ferrero.

In May 2022, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control linked 324 cases in the EU linked to chocolate products. 86.3% among children at or younger than ten years old.

“The closure of the Belgian processing plant on 8 April 2022 and the global recall and withdrawal of all their products have reduced the risk of exposure, but new cases may occur due to the long shelf life and possible storage of products at home,” warned the agency.