Snacking heavyweight Mondelez International has paused production at its West Hamilton plant in Canada after four employees came down with coronavirus.
The infected staff at the site in Ontario province are now self-isolating on full pay, the US-headquartered owner of the Cadbury and Oreo brands said in a statement.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have now paused production at the plant and are also working closely with Hamilton Public Health,” said Julie Edwards, the senior director of the supply chain at Mondelez Canada. “While the production is paused we will be carrying out further cleaning and sanitation and supporting our colleagues. We will re-commence operations when it is suitable to do so.”
She continued: “As soon as we were informed of the initial cases, we took swift action by launching an urgent investigation focused on the health and safety of our colleagues including contact tracing, and pausing the lines to carry out additional, focused deep cleaning and sanitation.”
Nasdaq-listed Mondelez said it started to implement advanced health and safety protocols at the West Hamilton site almost two months ago, including social distancing measures, the mandatory wearing of protective masks and temperature checks for employees and visitors.
Last week, the Oreo biscuit maker withdrew its financial guidance due to the uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic even after reporting a “strong” set of first-quarter results and “record” share gains.
