Plastic in choc bar prompts recall

FRANKFURT: Mars Inc has recalled chocolate bars and other products in 55 countries, mainly in Europe, after a piece of plastic was found in a Snickers bar in Germany, the US confectionery maker said yesterday.

All of the recalled products, which include Mars, Snickers and Milky Way bars, were manufactured at a Dutch factory in Veghel, according to a Mars spokeswoman.

They were sold in European countries including Germany, France and Britain, and in certain countries in Asia.

The recall, in effect since Monday, follows a January 8 complaint from a consumer in Germany, she said, who found red plastic in a Snickers bar and sent it back to the company.

“We cannot be sure that this plastic was only in that particular Snickers,” a spokeswoman from Mars 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.”

It was not immediately clear how much the complex recall would cost the company, which is unlisted and therefore does not disclose detailed financial information.

The spokeswoman declined to comment on the recall’s financial implications, which is the first to affect the factory employing about 1 200 people.

Consumer product recalls can have big reputational and financial effects, as Nestle learned last year when it recalled its Maggi noodles from India after a package was found to have unsafe levels of lead. – Reuters