Health authorities begin identification, removal of chocolate batches following reported worldwide cases of Salmonella infection

The Georgian National Food Agency has begun identifying and removing “suspicious” batches of chocolate from the country’s market due to the hundreds of reported cases of the Salmonella bacterial infection across the world. 

The Agency announced on Friday it had received a notification from the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission, through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, about the possible presence of the infection in various chocolate products on Thursday. 

Procedures for detecting and removing specific batches of chocolates were started “immediately,” the Agency said, adding it had informed the importing companies about the suspicious batches and instructed them to remove the Uovo Maxi chocolate from the market. 

Additionally, the body has requested the importing companies to register the number of Uovo Maxi’s products already placed on the market, and to report to the National Food Agency on actions taken.

The Agency also plans to conduct “unscheduled inspections,” overseeing chocolate import businesses, the organisation revealed.

Hundreds of cases of Salmonella have been reported in various countries worldwide, mainly among children under the age of 10, “most likely due to the contamination of various Ferrero-branded Kinder chocolates with Salmonella Typhimurium,” the Food Agency said.