Mars recalls their chocolate in 55 countries
Mars one of the largest privately owned businesses in the US which had a global sale of £23.43bn ($33bn) last year, recalled chocolate products in 55 countries after pieces of plastic were found in a Snickers bar in Germany. After a customer in Germany found the bits of red plastic in a Snickers bar in 8th January 2016, the plastic was traced back to the Mars factory in the Southern town of Veghel In the Netherlands, which employs about 1200 people. In the Netherlands Mars and Snickers bars were affected.
A Mars Netherlands Spokesperson said: “We cannot be sure that this plastic was only in that particular Snickers. 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 recall only involved products manufactured at the Dutch plant, which covers most countries in Europe and does not extend to the US, where Mars is based.
The UK ‘s Food Standards Agency (FSA) advised consumers not to eat the affected products and to contact Mars’ consumer care team on 0800 9520084. recall@uk.mars.com or by post Mars R1, FREEPOST, Mars Consumer Care.
The products in UK incudes Mars 250g bags Funsize, (Product code AV39F) with a best before date from 11/09/2016 to 2/10/2016; 227g bags of Milky Way Funsize (Product Code AV39J) with a best before date of 02/10/16; Variety Funsize – Family Favourites (Product code AC33W) with a best before date from 29/05/2016 to 14/08/2016; Variety Funsize -Party Mix ( Product code AV33T) with a best before date from 15/05/2016 to 07/08/2016; 388g boxes of Celebrations (Product code AJ46N) with a best before date from 08/05/2016 to 28/08/016; 245g boxes of Celebrations (Product code AJ46R) with a best before date from 08/05/2016 to 28/08/2016; 2.5kg catering cases of Snickers Miniatures (Product code YF413) with a best before date of 07/08/2016 to 14/08/2016.
Mars is one of the world’s biggest food companies, with 29 chocolate brands including M&M’s, Galaxy, Twix, Bounty and Maltesers. It also makes Wrigley’s Bubble gum, Uncle Ben’s Rice, Dolmio pasta sauce and Pedigree pet food.
According to one analyst the current reacall has cost tens of millions of dollars including losses from writing off products and lost sales in the short term due to reputational brand damage. In the short term, expect Mondelez (maker of Cadbury) and Nestle (maker of KitKat), and Ferrero will benefit during Easter.
In the US in 2014 the company voluntarily recalled M&Ms Theatre Boxes over undeclared peanut butter content.
On the Mars website under pressure on Tuesday, 23, February 2016, pages were not responding, and people took to social media to express concern and ridicule the recall. According to one GermanTwitter user Bernhard Jenny “mars ist das neue ⌘vw? (“Mars is the new VW ?”)
Back in 2007, Cadbury was forced to recall more than a million bars of chocolate after traces of Salmonella were found in its products., and was the largest and most expensive food recall in the UK. The company, now part of the US confectionery group Mondelez International – was prosecuted and fined £1m after the “major food poisoning outbreak” in which 42 people were ill and three were admitted to hospital.