• Health Food Safety withdraws batches of Kinder products from the Spanish market after cases of salmonella in Europe

  • Health Health confirms two cases of salmonellosis and another two likely linked to Kinder chocolates

The outbreak of monophasic

Salmonella Typhimurium

related to chocolate products from the Kinder company made at the Belgian plant in Arlos (today closed) and which is affecting several countries has already reached 324 cases.

Of these, 266 are confirmed, while 58 would be, for now, probable

.

This has been notified today by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in their latest review of the outbreak, in which they also point out that there are eight cases that cannot explained by the consumption of chocolate products from the same processing plant in Belgium, which

"suggests that there may also be other sources of infection, albeit secondary infections, which cannot be excluded".

As reported by EL MUNDO, the EFSA and the ECDC have been investigating this salmonella outbreak since last January that is affecting Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden, as well as the United Kingdom, including two different strains of

monophasic

Salmonella Typhimurium .

In addition, cases have been identified in Canada, Switzerland, and the United States.

The majority of infections (86.3%) occur in children aged 10 years or younger, and in all EU/EEA and UK cases for which information is available,

41.3% of them have been hospitalized.

No deaths have been reported

.

In its latest report, the ECDC points out that the

two salmonella strains are multi

-resistant and some isolates analyzed are also resistant to disinfectants based on quaternary ammonium compounds and hydrogen peroxide, but remain susceptible to azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, meropenem and third-generation cephalosporins.

"Epidemiological and microbiological investigations have identified specific chocolate products manufactured at the Arlon processing plant as likely vehicles of infection," the report states.

The two outbreak strains were identified in ten of the 81 salmonella-positive samples taken at the plant between December 2021 and January 2022, including raw material (whey), semi-finished and finished products.

According to the ECDC and EFSA, the whey was supplied by an Italian supplier in which no salmonella was detected.

The Italian supplier has

also supplied the whey to other production plants of the company and, according to the available tests, no 'Salmonella' has been detected in other plants.

The closure of the Belgian processing plant on April 8 and the global recall of all its products "have reduced the risk of exposure, but new cases may appear due to the long shelf life and possible storage of products at home." , detail the two European organizations.

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