Saudi Arabia is among 55 countries from where Mars Inc has recalled chocolate bars and other products due to choking risk after a piece of plastic was found in a Snickers bar in Germany. A press statement issued here on Wednesday by Mars Saudi said that the company has decided to take a precautionary recall of a selection of Snickers® (Minis and Miniatures), Mars® (Minis and Miniatures) and Best of Our Minis® products produced in the Netherlands after finding a piece of red plastic in a Snickers® bar purchased in Germany. "This is a voluntary measure taken by Mars to avoid any possibility of health hazards that can be caused by the presence of pieces of plastic," Mars Saudi statement said. The recall is limited to products produced in Veghel, Netherlands, which are Snickers Minis (275g) expiry date Jan. 8, 2017, Snickers Miniatures (150g) date of expiry Jan. 8, 2017, Mars Minis (275g) expiry date Jan. 8, 2017, Mars Miniatures (150g) expiry date Jan. 8, 2017, Best of Our Minis (710g) expiry date Nov. 13, 2016 and Best of Our Minis (500g) expiry date Nov. 13, 2016. "This incident has no impact on any of our same chocolate brands or products outside the above list or produced in other countries regardless of format, size, batches or packaging," said the company. The recall, in effect since Monday, follows a Jan. 8 complaint from a consumer in Germany, who found red plastic in a Snickers bar and sent it back to the company. It was not immediately clear how much the complex recall would cost the company, which is unlisted and therefore does not disclose detailed financial information. Consumer product recalls can result in heavy reputational and financial hits, as Nestle learned last year when it recalled its Maggi noodles from India after a package was found to have unsafe levels of lead. Cadbury's 2006 recall of more than 1 million chocolate bars after a salmonella outbreak cost that company roughly 20 million pounds. Mars Netherlands said it was working closely with the Dutch food safety authority on the matter, according to a statement.
