Food producer in hot water over salmonella in cornflakes

Unilever Israel has been caught in a consumer scandal after halting distribution of tens of thousands of cereal products over fears of bacterial contamination, and then apparently trying to hide that fact from consumers.

According to Channel 2 news, stores had been complaining for days of shortages in the international company’s cornflakes and Deli Pecan cereal. But the company initially denied there was a problem and attempted to downplay the issue when questioned by the media.

According to The Marker business daily, queries on the matter were initially rebuffed by the company as a non-story, with a spokesman telling the paper someone was “feeding you nonsense.”

It was only after the press began reporting on the mysterious shortages that the company admitted that testing had revealed salmonella bacteria in an undisclosed (“not many”) number of boxes.

The company has said that none of the affected products ever reached store shelves. According to The Marker, the company is not required by law to notify the public about issues with products that were discovered and dealt with during production.

However, the report also noted that consumers expect transparency from food producers, and that the company’s shady evasion tactics would likely not be well received.

Indeed, the past 24 hours have seen the story develop into a full-blown public relations disaster for the company, as it scrambled to assure the public that they do not need to throw out the cereals in their homes.

Unilever announced Thursday that worried buyers wishing to return the products could do so, even if they had been opened.

The Ynet news site reported that the company had apparently not only stonewalled the media, but had also attempted to evade inquiries from the Health Ministry on the matter.