Salmonella Recall For Chocolates, Including Easter Sweets, From Parsippany-Based Company

PARSIPPANY, NJ — A Parsippany-based chocolate corporation recalled some of its sweets because of potential salmonella contamination. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Ferrero U.S.A. Inc.'s voluntary recall on certain products, including treats marketed for Easter.

Ferrero's recall includes two products:

• Kinder Happy Moments Milk Chocolate and Crispy Wafers Assortment, sold BJ's Wholesale Clubs stores, plus Cosco in the Bay Area and Northern Nevada
• Kinder Mix Chocolate Treats Basket, sold in 14 Big Y Supermarket locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts

No other products from Ferrero's Kinder brand that were produced for the U.S. market were included in the decision, according to the FDA.

The company manufactured the chocolates at a facility in Arlon, Belgium, where salmonella was detected. The Arlon plant accounts for about 7 percent of Kinder products globally. Ferrero suspended operations with the facility.

"Ferrero acknowledges there were internal inefficiencies, creating delays in retrieving and sharing information in a timely manner," the company said in a news release.

There have been no reports of illness linked to Ferraro's products in the United States, according to the FDA's Thursday announcement. But the company recalled the products because of reported salmonella cases from consumers in Europe that they manufactured at the Belgium facility.

Anyone who purchased the affected products should not eat them. Customers can get refunds by contacting Ferrero's customer-service line online or by calling 1-800-688-3552 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems, according to the FDA. Others often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Salmonella causes 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths per year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

See the FDA's announcement for full info on the recalls.

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