The heads of the Strauss Group company held a press conference on Thursday evening and admitted to shocking revelations regarding the company’s operations in the wake of the salmonella finding and the largest recall in Israeli history. The conference follows the Health Ministry’s announcement on Thursday morning that the factory’s license has been removed for at least three months.
CEO Eyal Dror said: “We recently renovated the factory and it wasn’t carried out according to proper regulations. About a month before the salmonella was discovered, there were pigeons in the liquid chocolate factory. We work with serious pest control companies but proper work regulations were not upheld. Several times we received indications from one of our customers that there were some anomalies in the products. We didn’t check into it and that’s not okay. We should have behaved differently.”
Speaking to the public for the first time since the incident began, Ofra Strauss, the chairman of the Strauss Group, said: “I am here to clearly say in the name of the company, we look in the eyes of all the citizens of the state, everyone who has been harmed – I apologize for disappointing you. I apologize for the agmas nefesh that you’re going through because of us.”
“We’ll do everything we can not to disappoint you. The problems in the factory are severe and we promise that we’ll bring back our products as fast as possible but only after we’ve fixed whatever is needed. Food safety won’t be compromised.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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14 Responses
Amazing. Please tell me how any Rabbi or kashrus organization would say this facility was operating under kosher for passover standards? Something stinks and it’s not the pigeon poop.
And that’s it?? There should be some serious serious ramifications and punishments against people who are so irresponsible! If not what’s going to stop others from being careless?
Absolutely appalling! What else does Strauss make… yogurts? Cream/cottage cheese? Milk??? Lebens? What other products could potentially be infected?
But it WAS compromised. You just got caught and now you are apologizing. smells to me like a few lawsuits are underway. Negligence for one, even they admitted it. Shunda
Please make it quick!
You have delicious products and it will be hard to eat without them
As honest and sincere as they may be, I’m envisioning criminal charges. This seems to be an admission of negligence although not intentional but neglect nonetheless.
Willy Wonka would be proud.
How interesting. Not so long after they put out commercials supporting toeivah families in E”Y they get smacked with the greatest recall and loss of money and trust this country has ever seen. Will anyone conclude the obvious?
how comes peigons to chocolate , special pesaach ???
maybe Putin sent
“There were some anomalies in the products……..there were pigeons in the liquid chocolate factory..”
Yup….definitely an anomaly. If they were smart, the would make lemonade out of lemons and issue a press release that to diversify their revenues, they have launched a joint venture with Peleh in Swan Lake to offer a new product line of glatt squab (aka pigeons) for mehadrim. What a missed opportunity.
Same thing happened with Kinder Chocolate two weeks ago, produced in Belgium and distributed world-wide.
knafaym :
Good point.
“I am sorry we got caught “
Re “ Not so long after they put out commercials supporting toeivah families in E”Y ”
Exactly. And rabbis were begged to step in and either stop their ads or remove the hechsher but they wouldn’t.
Those ads seen by millions during the Super Bowl were a double chillul HaShem; not only did they use kosher and distinctive Jewish food (hummus) to encourage Jews to buy into the perverse lifestyle, but the goyim saw a kosher, Jewish business from Israel pushing it on gentiles.
I personally buy nothing from Strauss or not their partner PepsiCo.