Italian confectionery group Ferrero has suspended operations at its plant in Arlon, Belgium, after Europe's health agency began an investigation into dozens of cases of salmonella potentially linked to the company's chocolates.
The company also said on Friday there were internal inefficiencies, creating delays in retrieving and sharing information in a timely manner.
Ferrero, which has recalled several batches of Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs and other products from shelves in Spain, Britain, Ireland and United States, said more products made at the Arlon plant are being recalled.
The Arlon plant accounts for around 7 per cent of total volumes of Kinder products made globally on a yearly basis, Ferrero added.
The company recalled Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs from Irish shelves on Monday in what it said was a precautionary move. The Italian confectionery group said on Wednesday that no Kinder products released to the market had tested positive for salmonella.
"The outbreak is characterised by an unusually high proportion of children being hospitalised, some with severe clinical symptoms such as bloody diarrhoea," the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.
The agency did not mention Ferrero or any other company in its statement, but warned that the reported cases were mostly among children under 10 years old.
The agency later said that Kinder chocolate eggs were involved but did not clarify whether the problem concerned exclusively those products.
Nestle, the Swiss confectionery company, said it had recalled no products in this context. Rival Lindt & Spruengli was not affected by the current health crisis.
Britain has the highest number of incidents with 63 confirmed cases as of April 5th, the ECDC said, adding that other countries with probable or confirmed cases are Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said on Monday there were at least 10 cases in the country with the same strain of Salmonella responsible for the UK outbreak.
The EU health agency said it was investigating, together with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 134 confirmed or probable cases of salmonella.
