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

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.

Barry Callebaut detected on June 27, 2022, at its Wieze factory in Belgium a salmonella-positive chocolate production lot and quickly identified a lecithin batch from a supplier as the root cause. 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.

About Barry Callebaut Group:

With annual sales of about CHF 7.2 billion (EUR 6.6 billion / USD 7.9 billion) in fiscal year 2020/21, the Zurich- based Barry Callebaut Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products – from sourcing and processing cocoa beans to producing the finest 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. The global brands catering to the specific needs of these Gourmet customers are Callebaut^® and Cacao Barry^®, Carma^® and the decorations specialist Mona Lisa^®.

The Barry Callebaut Group is committed to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025 to help ensure future supplies of cocoa and improve farmer livelihoods. It supports the Cocoa Horizons Foundation in its goal to shape a sustainable cocoa and chocolate future.