The Hague : The US chocolate giant Mars on Tuesday ordered a massive international recall of Mars and Snickers bars made at its Dutch factory after a piece of plastic found in one snack was traced back to the site. Millions of chocolate bars were deemed possibly unsafe for consumption in 55 countries after a customer in Germany found a piece of red plastic in his Snickers bar last month.
The recall of the chocoholic snacks also affects Milky Way minis and some boxes of Celebrations, and hit most European countries. But it also extended as far as Vietnam and Sri Lanka in Asia. “As far as we know there are 55 countries involved,” the Mars corporate affairs coordinator for the Netherlands told AFP, refusing to divulge the whole list. The recall “only involves the products that are made in the Netherlands” at the Mars factory in the southern town of Veghel, she said, adding the products were mainly sold in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe.
Chocolate lovers in the United States need not worry as the recall does not extend to the company’s home base. The manager could not give the exact number of chocolate bars produced daily at the factory, but said about four million items were being recalled in The Netherlands alone.
