Girl, three, 'dead behind the eyes' after 'salmonella poisoning from Kinder Surprise egg'

A mother has said her three-year-old daughter was left looking "dead behind the eyes" after suspected salmonella food poisoning from a Kinder Surprise chocolate egg.

Charlotte Wingfield claimed in a Facebook post that her daughter, Brooklyn-Mai, contracted salmonella from eating the product.

It follows the closure of a chocolate factory in Belgium after it was linked to dozens of salmonella cases and a recall of a number of Kinder products regardless of their best-before date.

Wingfield shared photos of Brooklyn-Mai on Facebook last Thursday and said her daughter's temperature reached 39C.

Read more: Kinder Surprise eggs recalled after dozens infected with salmonella

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."

Wingfield said Brooklyn-Mai had been awake for just 12 to 14 hours out of 96.

She said: "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."

On Sunday, Wingfield posted that her daughter was in "an extreme amount of pain" and had to go to hospital before returning home.

A spokesperson for chocolate firm Ferrero told Yahoo News UK: “We are very sorry to hear about Brooklyn-Mai and our sincere thoughts are with her and her family at this time.

"We deeply regret this matter. We continue to work closely with the food safety authorities to support their investigations."

Ferrero said last Friday it was suspending operations at its plant in Arlon, Belgium.

A recall was issued that initially covered a range of Kinder products with best-before dates up to 7 October 2022.

However, on Friday, the UK's Food Standards Agency widened the recall, saying none of the recalled products should be eaten, regardless of best-before dates.

The recall includes all Kinder Surprise, Kinder Mini Eggs, Kinder Surprise 100g and Kinder Schokobons products.

Ferrero said its plant will only reopen “once certified by the authorities”. The company 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”.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said last Friday that 67 people in the UK, mostly young children, are known to have been infected with salmonella in the outbreak linked to Kinder products.