Barry Callebaut has announced today that the cleaning of the chocolate lines affected by the entry of salmonella-positive lecithin in its factory in Wieze, Belgium, is progressing well. As a result, the first cleaned chocolate lines are foreseen to restart production as of early August 2022, with a gradual ramp-up to full capacity over the following weeks.
On June 27 Barry Callebaut detected a salmonella positive chocolate production lot at its Wieze factory in Belgium. They quickly identified a lecithin batch froma supplier as the root cause of the issue. In response, Barry Callebaut halted all chocolate production at the Wieze factory on June 29, 2022, as a precautionary measure, which prevented affected chocolate products from entering the retail food chain.
Barry Callebaut duly and proactively informed the Belgian Food Safety Authorities (FAVV) and is in continuous collaboration with them on this incident. Food Safety is paramount for the Group and this is an exceptional incident. Not only does Barry Callebaut have a Food Safety charter and procedure in place, but also 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. This allowed the teams to quickly identify the risk and initiate the root cause analysis.
The Zurich based Barry Callebaut Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chocolate and cocoa products – from sourcing and processing cocoa beans to producing chocolates, including chocolate fillings, decorations and compounds. The Group runs more than 60 production facilities worldwide and employs a diverse and dedicated global workforce of more than 13,000 people. The Barry Callebaut Group serves the entire food industry, from industrial food manufacturers to artisanal and professional users of chocolate, such as chocolatiers, pastry chefs, bakers, hotels, restaurants or caterers.
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Editor, International Confectionery
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