Cheese and Kinder chocolate recalls expanded in France

Two separate product recalls have been enlarged in France as more details emerge.

Ferrero, which owns chocolate brand Kinder, has recalled all of its products linked to a salmonella outbreak, regardless of the items’ expiry dates.

It comes after France’s health ministry linked at least 15 cases of salmonella to the chocolates in the lead up to Easter on April 17.

Read more: Kinder chocolates recalled in France in run up to Easter

Meanwhile, Les Fromageries de Normandie, owned by Lactalis, is expanding its recall from around 2,000 cheese products to around 24,000 after discovering the source of a potential Listeria contamination.

This includes cheeses such as brie, camembert and coulommiers under the brands Normanville and Graindorge. These cheeses are sold in the supermarkets Auchan, Leclerc, Super U, and Carrefour.

Read more: Recall alert: French supermarket cheese recalled due to listeria risk

Kinder chocolates

The following chocolate products have been recalled in France, regardless of their expiry date:

• Kinder Surprise,

• Kinder Schoko-Bons lait,

• Kinder Schoko-Bons White,

• Kinder Happy Moments,

• Kinder Mini Eggs noisette, cacao, lait

• Kinder Mini Eggs mix et Kinder Mix (including various types of packaging)

See a full list here.

The Belgian food safety agency (AFSCA) announced on Friday (April 8) that it had ordered the shutdown of production at the Kinder chocolate factory in Arlon (Belgium) that was identified as the source of the salmonella contamination.

In a statement, Ferrero acknowledged "internal failures".

“The group deeply regrets this matter and offers its sincere apologies to all (consumers and) business partners,” it stated.

Ferrero advises anyone who has bought one of these products not to consume it, to keep it and to contact its consumer support team on 08 00 65 36 53 or contact.fr@ferrero.com.

Various cheeses

Cheeses including bries, coulommiers and camemberts from brands Normanville, Bon Normand, Pâquerettes, Graindorge, Traditions de Normandie and Nous anti-gaspi are included in the recall.

It includes the following batches:

010322LI8, 030322LI8, 070322LI8, 090322LI9, 110322LI4, 150322LI3, 170322LI1.

The products on recall should be stamped with the following: FR 14.371.001 CE

Lactalis states that it believes it has found the source of the potential listeria contamination. No cases of listeria have as yet been recorded.

Customers who have bought a cheese product on recall can phone 0800 120 120 for more information.

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