The eight skids of chocolate originated from a recycling depot where they being held prior to disposal, according to 680 News, a Toronto radio station. The case illustrates the need for a company to be in control of its recall process from start to finish. The chocolate was part of a voluntary recall carried out by Hershey after a routine inspection last year revealed that some of the company's products contained the salmonella pathogen. Police working on the case fear that the chocolate may have found its way into consumers' hands in Toronto and the surrounding areas. They did not identify the product, but described the stolen goods as Hershey's chocolate, shrink-wrapped and labelled with batch numbers from 6417 to 6455, according to the radio station. Food contaminated with salmonella may not look or smell spoiled, but the bacteria can cause symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Last November, Hershey's voluntarily shut down production at the Smiths Falls plant and issued a recall of 25 products after a routine inspection inside the plant detected salmonella. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) found that soy lecithin, an emulsifying agent commonly used by chocolate manufacturers, was the cause of the salmonella scare. The Hershey Company is one of the largest American manufacturers of chocolate and sugar confectionery products. The company markets brands such as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, and Ice Breakers, and has annual revenues of nearly $5 bn (€3.7 bn).
