Barry Callebaut suspends production at one of world's biggest chocolate factories

The Swiss chocolate producer Barry Callebaut paused production at its plant in Wieze, Belgium on Monday, the company said in a statement Thursday.

According to Visit Flanders, the Wieze plant is the biggest chocolate factory in the world.

The Belgian food authorities FAVV were informed of the incident because of our robust food safety programs in place, allowing us to quickly identify lecithin as the source of the contamination.

Lecithin is a fatty substance that is used to bind other ingredients in the chocolate.

The company has taken precautionary measures, including recalling all products manufactured since the time of testing. Production in Wieze will be suspended until further notice. The statement said that they were reaching out to all customers who may have received impacted products. The company, which makes almost $8 billion in sales over the 2020 -- 21 financial year, produces chocolate for other chocolate makers, including small chocolatiers and big-name brands, but it won't give its customers names when asked by CNN Business. Barry Callebaut will now take the time to keep the FAVV informed in the process, because of the very diligent root cause analysis. The lines will be cleaned and disinfected when that is completed, before the production process resumes, the company said.