Chocolate pretzels have been recalled in several countries as the products may cause a burning sensation in the mouth when consumed. The alert was first raised at the end of October 2024 after a consumer complaint in Germany. A Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) alert lists the… Continue Reading Food Recalls, World, 2025 recalls, consumer complaint, Felföldi Confectionery, foreign substance, Germany, Lidl, lye, Pretzels Food Safety News
Chocolate pretzels have been recalled in several countries as the products may cause a burning sensation in the mouth when consumed.
The alert was first raised at the end of October 2024 after a consumer complaint in Germany. A Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) alert lists the hazard as lye – chemical contamination.
In late January, all dates up to and including July 31, 2025, of MisterChoc dark and milk chocolate pretzels in 140-gram packages were recalled from Lidl in Germany.
Hungarian manufacturer Felföldi Confectionery has shared key moments in the timeline of the investigation. A criminal complaint has been filed to determine the origin of the foreign material and how it found its way into the product.
In the United Kingdom, Lidl GB recalled two Alpenfest Salted Mini Pretzel products. The milk and dark chocolate products have batch code 8535 and date June 30, 2025.
Affected Alpenfest pretzels sold at Lidl stores in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Malta have a best before date of May 31, 2025, and batch code 8534. According to the recall notice in Luxembourg, products were on sale from Aug. 26 to Oct 5, 2024.
People who bought any of the implicated products were told not to consume them and to return items to the nearest Lidl store for a refund. It cannot be ruled out that eating the affected chocolate pretzels could cause a burning sensation in the mouth and sore spots on the tongue and mouth.
Substance not from production environment
In a statement in response to questions from Food Safety News, Felföldi Confectionery said it would like to express sincere regret about the incident experienced by the affected consumer.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers are of utmost importance to us, and we have taken every necessary step to thoroughly investigate the matter. In October 2024, we were informed of a complaint involving a foreign substance found inside a package of our chocolate pretzels. Upon receiving this report, we immediately notified both Hungarian and German food safety authorities and cooperated fully with their investigations,” according to the company statement.
“The Hungarian consumer protection authority conducted an onsite inspection within 24 hours, thoroughly examining our pretzel production line. No irregularities or deviations from regulatory standards were identified during this inspection.”
Accredited laboratories have tested retained control samples with results confirming compliance with safety and quality standards and pH levels consistently within the acceptable range. Random inspections carried out by German food safety authorities also found no discrepancies.
“In addition to these investigations, our company underwent an unannounced IFS audit from Nov. 6 to 8, 2024. The auditor, fully aware of the complaint, conducted an exhaustive review of all production processes. Our operations achieved a 97.8 percent compliance score, maintaining our IFS High-Level certification. The auditor approved all process flow charts related to pretzel production, identifying no critical control point risks—consistent with the findings of previous audits.
“Despite these findings, and as part of our commitment to continuous quality assurance, another unannounced audit was conducted by Lidl’s quality control team on Jan. 23 to 24, 2025. The results were consistent with all previous inspections: no deficiencies or safety concerns were identified. Our internal quality control and R&D departments also conducted extensive tests, confirming that the foreign substance could not have originated from within our production environment.”
As a precautionary measure, a voluntary product recall was initiated on Jan. 31, 2025.
“We have filed a criminal complaint against an unknown party with German law enforcement authorities to determine the origin of the foreign material and the conditions under which it was introduced into the product,” said the company statement.
“We would like to emphasize that all our products undergo rigorous quality controls and comply with the highest food safety standards. Our commitment to delivering premium-quality products remains unwavering, and our chocolate pretzels will continue to be available on Lidl shelves.”
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