Mondelez squashes Salmonella rumors

Mondelez has provided assurances that none of its products contain Salmonella in response to a number of media reports.

Recent articles suggested a shortage in supply of some brands was due to Salmonella in products or factories owned by the company. Mondelez said operations at some plants had been disrupted but this was because of audits and cleaning and disinfection work. 

A Mondelez statement said safety of products and consumers health is always the highest priority.

“As a precautionary measure, the company decided to temporarily stop the production of some products; this will limit the availability of some of its biscuits brands in France. Mondelez International ensures with confidence that all its biscuits on the market are safe, do not contain Salmonella and do not raise any food safety concerns,” according to the statement.

Knock on effect
Mondelez was one of several companies impacted when Barry Callebaut stopped production in late June at one site in Belgium after Salmonella was detected. Salmonella Tennessee was found in a batch of lecithin from a supplier in Hungary and in the lecithin system of the factory. However, no affected products entered the retail supply chain. The Weize plant restarted in early August, and a gradual ramp-up to full capacity is ongoing.

“Following the alert given by one of our suppliers who identified Salmonella in one of its main production site last June, we have had to limit the availability in store of several ranges of biscuits mainly Mikado, Petit Ecolier, Granola, Pépito and Pim’s,” according to the company’s statement.

“We immediately conducted an audit of the Mondelez International production sites affected by the chocolate mass provided by one of our suppliers, and on a strictly preventive level, temporarily stopped the lines and deliveries to our customers at the end of June.

“On July 1, we were able to confirm, after having implemented all the necessary internal controls and traceability measures, that all Mondelez products on the market are safe, without any trace of Salmonella and therefore without any risk for food safety.”

Hygiene-related work is still ongoing at one factory in France, said Mondelez. 

“The Cestas plant in Gironde is still undergoing a thorough cleaning and disinfection of its production lines, as a precautionary measure, to guarantee the total safety of our cookies. This technical and complex operation takes several weeks.

“We are planning to resume production in the next few weeks, with the return of deliveries to all our customers to ensure the availability in stores of the concerned references. Our first priority is always to deliver to our customers and to offer our consumers safe products of the highest possible quality standards.”

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