JEDDAH, 18 April 2007 — Nestlé Middle East FZE has successfully completed its voluntary recall of possibly tainted Kit Kat chunky caramel bars from store shelves throughout the GCC and Lebanon.
The company had earlier launched a voluntary recall of all Kit Kat caramel chunky bar supplies with “Best Before” dates up to Feb. 14, 2008, which were produced under UPC Code 0-59800-25027-6, for fear that some may possibly contain hard pieces of plastic.
The affected bars limited to only the 65-gram caramel variety, were manufactured in Australia and shipped to Singapore, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and the Middle East.
Wassim El Husseini, food and beverage manager of Nestle Saudi Arabia’s Confectionery Division, said “we received an internal statement from Nestlé Australia informing us of possible hazard. As a result, we have been working diligently with our agent to remove the affected batch from all retail outlets in Saudi Arabia and replace the shipment with a fresh batch. At the beginning of April, the removal process has proven successful with 100 percent of possibly affected bars being taken off store shelves,” he said.
Confirming the success of the removal of the popular confectionery from stores across the GCC and Lebanon, a spokesman for Nestlé Middle East FZE told Arab News, that “we want to stress the importance of the fact that our office has called a voluntary recall as a precautionary tool for the purpose of ensuring the safety of our customers and to provide them with the very best quality products possible.”
He added that “to my knowledge, no such injuries or complaints have been reported” over the tainted product.
He further said the likelihood of affected bars being found in the GCC and Lebanon was extremely small with only 2 bars in 3.9 million possibly being contaminated with the plastic pieces, though, he agreed that even two bars were enough to necessitate a voluntary recall of the product.
Consumers with questions or concerns about the recall or to obtain further product information may contact Nestlé Middle East FZE at [email protected].
