Strauss announced this morning that in routine inspections conducted at Elite’s chocolate factory, several samples with salmonella were discovered in the factory production line and in the chocolate used as a raw material to create products, Globes reports.
The company stated that the food service at the Ministry of Health was updated immediately and in coordination with it and out of a concern for the health of the products, the company decided to recall all the chocolate products marked “better to use before” according to the following details:
The company asked the public not to consume these products and noted that with the discovery of the problem, the chocolate was blocked for use, the production of the various chocolate products in the factory was stopped immediately and products manufactured in its vicinity were blocked for distribution.
Globes also reported that “the company is carrying out extensive operations to locate the source of the problem and its scope and repair and return to full product distribution when all production lines are safe. In healthy people, the salmonella bacterium can cause intestinal disease manifested by fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The susceptibility of the bacterium can cause serious illness.”
Haaretz is criticizing the company, claiming that Strauss knew about the salmonella outbreak for almost a week before it issued a recall for the majority of its chocolate snacks today. Haaretz reports that TheMarker found that Strauss received initial test results of salmonella contamination during Pesach, almost a week ago. After the results were received, the company had begun testing its final products, and learned that some may contain salmonella on Sunday.
