Netherlands Notifies a Serious Alert Over Salmonella in a Chicken Sandwich Meat Produced in Belgium

On October 16, 2026, the Netherlands notified the European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the presence of Salmonella in a chicken sandwich meat produced in Belgium. The notification, sent by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), is listed as an alert and the risk is classified as serious. It is a chilled poultry cold cut, a food eaten as is, without further cooking.

The finding came from a company own check: Salmonella was detected in 25 grams of a sample taken on October 10, and the notification is based on the European regulation on microbiological criteria (Regulation (EC) 2073/2005). The measure reported by the Netherlands was to inform the consignor and, according to RASFF, there was no distribution from the notifying country. On October 19 the Netherlands published a correction indicating Belgium as the country of origin and the European Commission reclassified the notification; on October 21 Belgium's AFSCA communicated the outcome of its investigation, the content of which is not public. The system does not detail batches, volumes, serovar or associated cases of illness.

In a ready-to-eat meat product, the presence of Salmonella is a serious finding, because there is no step left to eliminate the bacterium before it reaches the consumer. If the product underwent heat treatment, its detection usually indicates insufficient treatment or later contamination during cooling, slicing or packing, when the product comes back into contact with surfaces, equipment or hands. In addition, sandwich cold cuts are used in food service and in preparations eaten cold, so a single consignment can reach many consumers. Salmonellosis causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain, and can be serious in children, older adults and immunocompromised people.

For poultry cold cut manufacturers, the case underlines the importance of validating the heat treatment, separating raw and cooked product areas and monitoring the environment of slicing lines, in addition to testing the finished product before dispatch. As the origin is Belgian, it directly concerns that country's meat industry. TAAG's Ampliora 3.2 kit detects Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 by real-time PCR and its validated matrices include cold cuts and ready-to-eat foods, so it matches the microorganism and the matrix of the alert. A positive result is presumptive and must be confirmed with the reference method.