A worried mother has shared how her three-year-old daughter was left looking "dead behind the eyes" after she claims she contacted Salmonella from eating a Kinder Surprise chocolate egg.
Charlotte Wingfield shared photos of her little girl Brooklyn-Mai, who she said had a temperature of 39C as a result of the food poisoning.
It comes as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has issued urgent 'do not eat' warnings for certain batches of Kinder products amid Salmonella fears.
Shops and supermarkets across Ireland have been ordered to remove the treats from shelves, while households are being urged to check they don't have any implicated batches.
Five people in Ireland have been hospitalised as a result of the Salmonella outbreak in some Kinder products, which represents a third of the 15 cases confirmed in the State so far.
The European Centers for Disease Control says the majority of infections are among young children younger than 10 years old.
Ms Wingfield took to Facebook to describe how her daughter was impacted, saying the tot had "never been so poorly in her life", Hull Live reports.
She wrote: "Brooklyn-Mai has been so so poorly since I picked her up from nursery on Monday. Seeing as I was so ill last week, I thought nothing of it than her just coming down with the tummy bug I had until she slept for 21 out of the following 24 hours and then kept falling asleep as she was doing things.
"Her temperature spiked to over 39C and I struggled to disturb her. I knew something wasn't right and spoke to the GP who ran through a list of what it could be.
"I came off the phone thinking she had a viral bug. Fast forward three days and it's been confirmed she has Salmonella from the Kinder chocolate she ate on Sunday."
Ms Wingfield said that in the space of 96 hours, little Brooklyn-Mai had been awake for just 12 to 14 of them and when she was awake, it was like she wasn't really there at all.
"She's been completely dead behind the eyes and so lifeless, it's been absolutely heartbreaking to see my usually fiery, adventurous and very active baby girl be the complete opposite of everything she usually is," she said.
Chocolate firm Ferrero said it is suspending operations at its plant in Arlon, Belgium which it said will only reopen “once certified by the authorities”. Ferrero said it acknowledged “internal inefficiencies, creating delays in retrieving and sharing information in a timely manner” and said these had “impacted the speed and effectiveness of the investigations”.
A third recall notice was issued by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on Friday.
Below are all the products being recalled.
An FSAI spokesperson said: "People infected with Salmonella typically develop symptoms between 12 and 36 hours after infection, but this can range between 6 and 72 hours. The most common symptom is diarrhoea, which can sometimes be bloody. Other symptoms may include fever, headache and abdominal cramps.
"The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Diarrhoea can occasionally be severe enough to require hospital admission. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have more severe illness."
Consumers are advised not to eat the implicated batches, while retailers are requested to remove the implicated batches from sale and to display a point-of-sale recall notice in stores where the affected products were sold.
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