Chocolate lovers, look out. U.S. chocolate maker Mars Inc. recalled its chocolate bars across 55 countries because of choking risk after a piece of plastic was found inside a Snickers bar in Germany.
The recall affects mainly Europe including Germany, France and Britain. Some chocolates were also exported to certain countries in Asia. A Dutch factory in Veghel manufactured all of the recalled products, including Mars, Milky Way, Mini Mix, Snickers and Celebrations bars.
The company spokesman in Netherlands, Roel Govers, said that the company would not provide any more details about the recall but it would send a news release later.
Germany Reports First Case So Far
The recall followed a complaint by a customer who found a piece of red plastic inside a Snickers bar. The customer sent the bar back to the company.
"We cannot be sure that this plastic was only in that particular Snickers," a spokeswoman for the company in Netherlands said. "We do not want any products on the market that may not meet our quality requirements, so we decided to take them all back."
The company added that they are working with the Dutch Food Safety authorities to address the problem. The company in Germany confirmed that it was one of the countries affected.
"We have intentionally chosen a long production time frame in order to ensure that all possibly affected products are recalled," the company said in a German-language statement.
Recall As Abundance Of Precaution
Though only one Snickers bar was reported to contain plastic, a sweeping recall of Mars chocolate in over 50 countries is an abundance of precaution. The recall only affects the products manufactured in the Dutch factory and was shipped to certain countries.
For consumers, bars labeled with Mars Netherlands are affected. Since Mars can't guarantee that only one bar is affected, it is recalling everything with Best Before labels between June 19, 2016 to Jan. 8, 2017.
Recall's Financial Impact
The company did not disclose the financial impact of the recall. The spokesperson declined to comment on the financial implications on the factory and the company as a whole.
Mars Inc., based in Mount Olive, New Jersey, is one of the biggest food companies in the world with 29 popular chocolate bars including M&M's, Twix, Galaxy and Maltesers.
Consumer product recalls can lead to heavy financial problems. Other companies in the past that dealt with several million dollars' worth of product recalls learned from their experience in making sure food safety and quality are always evaluated.
Photo: Ludovic Hirlimann | Flickr
