BRANTFORD, Ont. – The maker of Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and Kinder products says it had to close down its Brantford, Ont., plant after employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Ferrero Canada Ltd. says the plant closed Tuesday afternoon when it discovered seven workers contracted the virus.

Ferrero spokeswoman Stephanie Cass says in an email that the employees worked in the same areas and had not been in the plant for almost two weeks before getting their test results.

She says Ferrero closed the plant out of an abundance of caution and will only resume operations when it is appropriate to do so.

Cass says the facility will undergo an assessment and deep cleaning and workers will be compensated for their time away, but did not say if the closure would result in shortages of Ferrero products.

Alba, Italy-based Ferrero came to Canada in 1974 and opened the Brantford facility in 2006 to manufacture Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and Tic Tac products and package items in its Kinder brand.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2020.