Authorities removing Mars, Snickers bars from market

AMMAN — The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) on Wednesday started taking Mars and Snickers products off the shelves in local markets for containing plastic materials, an official said.

JFDA Director General Hayel Obeidat said that on Tuesday the administration’s teams started a comprehensive inspection campaign on stores and warehouses containing the faulty products, Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The producing company, Mars, has recently announced an international recall of its Mars, Milky Way, Snickers, Celebrations and Mini Mix products that included 55 countries.

The recall was made due to fears that customers could choke from pieces of plastic.

The JFDA director said the JFDA seized 23 tonnes of faulty chocolate from markets, warehouses and duty-free zones, adding that work is under way to seize the remaining 50 cartons in the market.

Obeidat said JFDA teams, in cooperation with importers, seized 1,948 cartons of Mars and Snickers, and retrieved 500 cartons from distributors, Petra reported.

He noted that products from the faulty batches were not found in 16 malls checked by inspectors, and the JFDA has notified all health departments of the batch numbers designated by the production company as faulty.

Obeidat noted that the JFDA will not allow the entry of an expected shipment of these products into the Kingdom, adding that the administration reserves the right to legally pursue the producing companies.

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, Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday.

The recall “only involves the products that are made in the Netherlands” at the Mars factory in the southern town of Veghel, Eline Bijveld, Mars corporate affairs coordinator for the Netherlands told AFP, adding that the products were mainly sold in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe.

Manufacturing dates for the different products vary, but in general those with a “best-before” date of between June 19, 2016, and January 8, 2017, are being recalled, according to AFP.