For many parents, they are the bosses on the checkout line, which they have to guide their children past unnoticed. For people without children, they are a reliable flashback: drop the red and white aluminum foil and open the chocolate egg, which melts far too quickly, with sticky hands. Hoping you shook properly and there really is something buildable hidden inside the yellow capsule, not a silly grinning hippo figure or something. Surprise eggs – they have accompanied children’s chocolate consumption for 48 years.
But right now, shortly before Easter, many parents are startled by a recall on the candy shelf. Ironically, surprise eggs, chocolate bons and other plump products of the “Children” brand were recalled by the Italian confectionery parent company Ferrero. In several European countries, people, including many children, became infected with salmonella after eating chocolate. So with those bacteria that can cause a gastrointestinal infection. As of Thursday, 105 confirmed cases had been reported across the EU. Including four in Germany.
According to Ferrero, the individually wrapped surprise eggs are not affected by the recall campaign, only those in packs of three or variants such as the 100g maxi pink egg or chocolate bons. online has Ferrero a list with all affected products and the relevant best-before dates.
Many children are among those infected
The European Food Safety Authority EFSA announced on Wednesday that the recent salmonella outbreak in several European countries has affected an “unusually high proportion of children”. The first epidemiological surveys of the sick also indicated “certain chocolate products” as a source of infection Communication from EFSA.
Suspicion fell on Ferrero because there was a production stop at a Belgian plant in Arlon in December. The factory there had to be shut down due to a finding of salmonella. After disinfection, the Belgian plant resumed work. The European authorities are now comparing the genotype of the bacterium from Arlon with that of the current Salmonella infections.
Ferrero is now expecting a quick clarification in the coming days. It is the products that came off the assembly line in Belgium that are now also affected by the EU-wide recall. However, the majority of the “Kinder” brand sweets for the German market are produced in Stadtallendorf in Hesse.
Consumer protection advocates wait and see before consuming “children’s” products
At the consumer advice center in Hamburg, Armin Valet criticizes Ferrero’s reluctance to communicate: “The group does not speak publicly about the causes of the outbreak and how exactly it is being checked now, that annoys us”. The food chemist advises not to consume products of the “Children” brand for the time being until it has been clarified beyond a doubt what those affected have been infected with. “It’s not uncommon for food contamination to only be known in bits and pieces,” says Valet.
It is also tricky that, unlike outbreaks with poultry or eggs, a product that is primarily aimed at children is now affected. In the case of salmonella, people with a weakened immune system, children and the elderly are more at risk of developing a severe course of the disease. Individual infected children would have to be treated in hospital and had shown symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, reports the EFSA.
“All hell is breaking loose” at the consumer center, says Armin Valet, “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.” Concerned parents raised their questions on the phone, by email, but mainly via social media channels. “Don’t panic, but increased caution” is currently required if children get diarrhea, vomiting or fever. In contrast to the corona virus, general practitioners and pediatricians can definitely detect salmonella with a stool swab.