EU authorities investigate salmonella outbreak

07-Apr-2022 - Sweden

The salmonella cases in Germany and other European countries that are probably related to chocolate products are now also occupying two EU authorities. The EU's food safety authority EFSA and the EU's health agency ECDC have begun investigations into the outbreak and plan to publish an assessment next week. So far, 105 confirmed cases and 29 suspected cases have emerged, most of them in children under the age of 10, the Parma- and Stockholm-based authorities said Wednesday.

Nearly half of all infections reported so far have been in the United Kingdom, where the first case was detected as early as Jan. 7, according to the data. In Germany, four confirmed and three suspected cases are known so far, according to the report. Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are also affected.

EFSA and ECDC further said the outbreak is characterized by an unusually high proportion of children requiring hospitalization, including some with severe symptoms such as bloody diarrhea. Certain chocolate products have been identified as a likely route of infection, they said.

Products have already been recalled in Germany and several other countries because of the outbreak. Confectionery company Ferrero had said Tuesday that it had decided to voluntarily recall selected batches of children's products in Germany as a precautionary measure, including some batches of surprise eggs and chocolate bonbons. All items were manufactured in Belgium, according to Ferrero.

On Wednesday, Norwegian food regulator Mattilsynet also said it was withdrawing several children's products from the Norwegian market. The authority also pointed out that these recalled products had been produced in Belgium. (dpa)

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

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